HAVEN BLACK - Complete and now on Wattpad!
by GothFather
Summary: After suffering a traumatic loss and a failed suicide, Jake, a high school loner, follows a mysterious lead from an apparition which seemingly originates from his own imagination. Searching for meaning in her life, through the death she feels internally, Samara, an eccentric individual, struggles to come to terms with her unusual traits in a small secluded village.
1. Chapter 1 - Long Cold Night

**_Being conscious is a torment, the more we learn the less we know. Every answer contains a new quest, a quest to non-existence, a journey with no end._**

 ** _-Mark Jansen, Epica._**

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 **Chapter 1 – LONG, COLD NIGHT**

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 **Somewhere in the Winter Frost of East Europe 1939**

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My heart thudded hard in my chest erupting a pounding into my ear drums. An acute adrenaline throbbed through my veins as I struggled with my petrified family to remain as still and silent as possible while we all huddled, shivering in the freezing cold in the roof of our small Albanian home. I feared immensely, like the other frightened faces that stared back at me, that if we moved, even an inch, dust would unsettle from underneath us and drift its way down onto the dinner plates of the Nazi soldiers that feasted in the room below. We would then be certainly discovered and the fate that awaited us would be agony from the deepest savagery of this cruel war. My family and I were not the lucky ones in this conflict; we didn't have blonde hair and blue eyes – we had the exact opposite; stark black hair and distinct black features that contrasted even against our slightly tanned, weathered complexion.

Smutty talking, vulgar chortles and the clinking of metal knives scraping porcelain plates muffled from below while my loved ones and I sat closely together quivering from the harsh cold; vapor ghostly hovering from our short, quiet breaths. An old large wooden chest sat a few yards away from me. A piercing ray of moonlight illuminated the comfort that sat atop the old chest – a thick woolen blanket. It seemed to beckon to me. Looking at my Grandma who was suffering from the cold with her fragile body, my hand waved slowly to signal to my father opposite me; he turned to face me, fear dominating his eyes.

He silently moved his lips and mouthed "what?".

Signalling at the warmth that sat on top of the wooden case, I kept my eyes locked on my Father's. He shook his head from side to side slowly; his lips moved silently but I could make out that he was saying "no, no, no"

The noise from the Nazi soldiers below seemed to get louder and I could only dread that they'd found my Father's cache of spirits in one of the kitchen cupboards and they were quickly becoming grossly intoxicated - I knew all too well the ill effects drunkenness could bring: Luckily my father was a happy drunk, but my uncle was very much the opposite; it felt as though he prayed on me at times, often staring at me with a sinister look, waiting for an opportunity to get me alone. Thankfully my father soon became aware of this and banished him from ever coming back to our home.

God I pray that they drink themselves into a coma so we can escape. The thought gave me a small glimmer of hope.

"Look at Grandma Father, she's freezing..." my daring whisper broke the long held silence. "...she won't make it the night, it's too cold... Father, please we have to help her"

My Father looked sympathetically at Grandma who was now struggling to keep her eyes open and was shaking visibly more than the other frightened, cold members of the family. He then turned to my Mother, who gave a weak nod of agreement before kissing my little Brother lightly on his head, who sat huddled into a ball on my Mother's lap.

Gazing toward the moonlit window, my Father paused in thought briefly before turning back to me with desperate eyes, whispering "Okay but be careful."

Leaning forward I gently placed my hands on the cold dusty wooden floorboards and pushed myself up slowly, my muscles ached from lack of movement. Pins and needles surged into my legs as I stood up and as my legs began to collapse under my petite structure, I instinctively cast my eyes up and caught sight of a rafter beam. Throwing my hands up at speed, I managed to grasp them around the beam; the house gave out a little groaning creak as they absorbed my weight. Looking down at my family with widened eyes, I waited as still as humanly possible...

Thankfully, the soldiers on the floor below didn't seem to notice my near slip. Biting my lower lip, I endured the pain of blood rushing back into my legs and after a couple of minutes the discomfort had dissipated and their strength had returned. Lowering my arms to my sides, my body now supported by my legs, I prepared myself for what seemed like a significant feat ahead.

One foot in front of the other and… balance, and tiny steps.

With my family watching in suspense, I took a small step towards the wooden chest and waited, my ears tuned to any changes in the Nazi's talking, meters beneath me. I took another step, then another. Now standing within arms reach of the blanket, I cautiously grabbed hold of it and lifted it slowly off the chest, trying to disturb as little dust as possible. The blanket felt heavy and stiff under my tired arms as I lightly tip toed back to my anxiously awaiting family. Walking only the absolute necessary steps I sneaked behind Grandma and wrapped the blanket around her, covering up her frail looking posture.

Sitting down next to Grandma, I glanced at Mother who looked at me with a small smile of hope. "Thank you" she whispered softly.

* * *

Struggling to stay awake, my heavy head bobbed downwards and my eyes stung from the tiredness. Peering through the dimly lit room, I could see my little brother dozing lightly cradled in our mums' arms. The shouts and banter from the men below remained constant but seemed to go on forever.

We might just make it through the night, then they might just leave...

Loud crashing and banging suddenly erupted from the Nazi's directly below.

God, they've started smashing all our belongings – what animals!

The fear and adrenaline I was experiencing tonight was now was laced with anger.

Grandma now lay helpless on the floor; the side of her face pressed against the floorboards and she shivered continuously underneath the woolen blanket.

"...my ...dear" she whispered hoarsely.

"Yes Gran?" I quietly replied as I came closer to Grandma's face in an attempt to hear her better.

"Dear... Oh my dear... I'm sorry" Grandma's voice whispered aguishly, her lips scraping against the dust on the floor.

"Sorry for what Gran?" my forehead strained with concern.

A horrible long quiet moan crept out of Grandma's lips as she started to shake violently; she was going into shock from the hypothermia.

I glanced quickly at Father, not knowing what to do.

Without a moment of delay, Father stood up and paced cautiously to the Grandma and went down on his knees beside her. Gently putting his weight on the frail old lady, in a desperate bid to keep them all from being detected from the Nazi's, he grasped her wrists and interlocked his ankles on her – suppressing her movement.

"Quiet!" a strong voice bellowed out from below.

Oh no! They have heard us!Oh my God, please have mercy on my family.

My face darted frantically around looking at my family's expressions of terror that were fixed on Grandma's convulsions that were now being subdued by Father who lay on top.

A cloud of dust drifted aimlessly above me speckling in the moonlight. A departed silence dawned on the dwelling.

"Sir, look up, I think there is dust coming from up there!" an excited voice shouted from beneath us.

Another moment in weary silence fell, and the dead stillness that now engulfed us felt like it lasted for an eternity, as though fate was trying to make up its mind.

Bang!

A small hole pierced the floor only inches away from my Mother; a column of light strike through the stale attic air, through the ceiling and into the night sky. Letting out a little whimper of fright, my Mother shuffled backwards a couple of feet, kicking up another plume of dust; my brother still sitting in her lap, sobbed quietly.

Crack!

Another bullet was fired from the floor below.

"Argh! Shit!" I cried out in torment as an intense burning sensation ripped through my left shoulder. Never had I felt this kind of agony before. Looking though the torn fabric of my sweatshirt, I saw the tear of flesh on my upper left arm from the bullet graze. I held my hand over the deep wound – blood seeped out from between my dirty fingers and dripped from my nail tips an onto the dust covered ground. Biting hard down on my teeth to prevent a scream, my jaw began aching.

I dared not to glace through the bullet hole that had opened up through the floor boards an inch away from where I sat.

Glancing at Father through my teary eyes, he starred back at me and gave an exhausted smiled; his eyes filled with a dreaded look of distress as sweat dripped down his forehead.

" _Come out, come out little wherever you are..._ " an imposing voice taunted from below "... _we just want to... play a little bit..., we won't hurt you, I promise_ ".

A wicked laughter broke out among the Nazi soldiers, but it quickly died down. Then after a brief moment, the trotting thuds of heavy boots began to scatter loudly in the rooms below - they must be searching for the entrance...

"Sir! Over here! I think I found a door behind this closet..." an overly excited soldier shouted from the bottom of the attic's narrow staircase.

Father abruptly let go of Grandma's wrists and swiftly stood up, leaving the helpless old lady shaking uncontrollably on the ground while a dust cloud reformed around her. Father's eyes searched with a new form of focus; Squinting around the dimly lit area, his gaze appeared to have locked onto a cloth covered cabinet that sat half in a shadow in the corner of the room. Reaching on top of it, he pulled out a heavy looking old brass candle stick from the shadow and grasped it tightly as the moon rays reflected off its smooth dull surface.

"They're coming! Grab a weapon, anything is better than nothing!" my father quivered as he welded the candle stick in front of his chest, as though it was a weapon.

My family drowsily stood up.

Crack! Something heavy had pounded against the attic door.

The abrupt noise urged a sense of panic in us and we were suddenly scrambling around the room to find something - anything that we could use to protect ourselves with. Struggling to find anything of use, my hands waved into the shadows. Finally I felt a blunt object.. I pulled it out into the dimness and looked disappointingly at the piece of wood that my hands now clutched shakily.

What good is this piece of wood against their guns and knives?

Crash! The sound of splintering wood rang throughout the attic space as the soldiers pulverized the attic door again. Streaks of penetrating light that shot into the hiding space illuminating patches of the attic ceiling. Fear lumped in my throat as I spun around to face the deafening pounds on the door, my rapid breathing fueled by fear, adrenaline and hint of hate.

Looking around at my family, all of whom stood ready to fight, appeared feebly weak; My poor little brother held a small old vase; Mother had a short length of metal chain; and Father had the candle holder. I knew we would not stand a chance against their maliciousness, but we were not going to keel over and die without a fight.

Several soldiers breached the door and stormed up the passageway, their boots thumping hard against the stairs that protested under their combined weight. Reaching the top, five soldiers stood in front of my weakened and exhausted family. They wore light matte green uniforms and grimacing smiles brandished their faces; their smug expressions were as though they were hunters who have just cornered their prey.

They all stood tall and ready to advance on us, to consume us, but they seemed to be held back by an invisible leash. I dared to look up into one of the eyes of the men and saw an evil, morbid desire in his stare; it as though he was undressing me with his eyes. I shivered to think what he _wanted_ to do to me. Narrowing my eyes with a certain defiance, I glanced at the other wicked men – they all had a similar sickening hunger in their eyes as they all stared back at me. They _only_ looked at me, like I was a prized possession ready to take ownership.

Casting my eyes down, I glanced at my weapon; The useless piece of wood was a joke, even if these men didn't have any weapons, it was of little use against their brawn. I moved it around in my hand anyway finding the best grip as I felt the grisly stares and smirks from the soldiers' burning through my skull.

I braced myself, readying to fight...


	2. Chapter 2 - The Struggle

**Chapter 2 – The Struggle**

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"What do we have here my friends!" jeered another Nazi with from the behind the line of men. A tall dark man roughly pushed two of the soldiers aside and stepped forward welding a smirk across his scar covered face. Unlike the other men around him, he wore a black uniform with a red band around his left arm and a rifle in his right: he appeared to be the commanding officer of the other Nazi's. The mere sight of him infuriated me more. He seemed to notice this widened his yellow-toothed grin more.

"Take what you want, _but you won't harm my family_!" Father shouted back, his voice quivering as he tightly clutched the candle stick high in the air.

The soldiers finally removed their horrid gaze from me and focused on Father; they laughed loudly mocking his desperate plea.

Father stood protectively in front of us and as the the Nazi dressed in black walked towards us holding the tip of his rifle, he stopped a few yards away. Tapping the butt of the rifle once on the floor, he stared deathly into my father's eyes.

"You do not talk to an SS Officer so rudely! You shall be punished." replied the commander menacingly, noticeably gritting his teeth. "And what is her problem?" he pointed at Grandma who continued to shake on the ground.

"She is sick with hypothermia! If we don't get her help soon she is going to die!" I erupted uncontrollably, a haze of condensation escaped from my cold, trembling dry mouth.

"Oh I see... ...well how unfortunate. Maybe I can help her, no?" the officer replied smirking.

"Please sir, we just need to get Grandma to a hospital" I begged desperately, cupping my hands together against my chest.

Staring intently at me, the SS officer's smirk changed to a wide smile again before he turned to face his subordinate on his right. He quietly muttered to the soldier, who stood a foot shorter, and the soldier responded with a devilish smile and a nod.

Cocking his head towards me, the SS officer's face now had an expression of unexpected worry "Okay young girl, we will take your grandmother to the hospital, but you and your family have to move aside so that my men can come and carry her out."

A wave of relief swept through me as these words fell upon my ears. I looked at Father who remained unconvinced - but what choice did we have?

Reaching out, I gripped my little brother's hand and together as a family we moved to the side to clear a pathway to Grandma, who was still withering on the floor but now to a lesser extent.

"Excellent" the SS officer said, his smile looking more grimace than before.

He and his men took a couple of slow steps towards Grandma, staring at us more intensely.

Then all of a sudden, the horror began.

Swinging his rifle up rapidly and pushing it against his shoulder, the SS officer hunched and peered through the iron sights, taking aim at the helpless woman on the floor.

"No don't!" I screeched thrusting my hands out towards Grandma.

A shattering crack rippled through the room and Grandma suddenly lay still, her withering had ceased – she had been shot.

The SS officer slid the bolt back on the rifle and ejected the empty shell which clanged briefly onto the wood floor boards; a small trail of light grey smoke smoldered from the rifle's chamber.

My brother and I dropped our weapons and bolted from our parents. We fell at our knees next to Grandma, where a pool of blood emerged from her underneath her head.

Running my fingers through her grey hair, I sobbed, my tears streamed off my cheeks and dropped onto Grandma's still face.

"Oh Grandma" I wailed, putting my arm around my brother. A sense of hopelessness began overwhelming me.

Turning my head to the men that were slowly closing in on us I shrieked out indignantly "You monsters!"

Father rushed in towards us, intercepting the soldiers that were almost upon my brother and I.

Swinging the candle stick towards one of the soldiers (which failed to land a hit on any of the men), Father was quickly over powered by the larger men.

He was outnumbered and out-muscled.

Two soldiers wrestled the candle stick out of his hand, tossed it to the side, and dragged Father back by his arms which were now locked behind his back; his legs swung wildly kicking in the air. He grunted loudly like an animal that had just been cornered and thrown into a cage.

"Don't touch my family!" he growled as he was forcefully turned to face the SS officer.

I stood up and began running towards Father when my mother grabbed me by my shoulder and held me back.

"No!" I cried fighting the surges of hatred and helplessness.

"Be quiet!" the SS commander ordered as he clutched the barrel of his rifle and banged the handle on the floor once more.

"God will judge your soul and you will be damned to reside in the depths of hell reserved only for the most evil of men!" Father hissed, spitting into the SS commander's face.

Angrily wiping the spit from his twisted face, with a handkerchief that he had slowly withdrawn from his jacket pocket, the Nazi leader sniggered menacingly.

The SS commander then thrust the blunt handle hard into Father's face, hitting his forehead with a sickening thud. His head sprung back violently before slumping forward resting with his chin on his chest - Father had been knocked unconscious.

Signalling to his men with military hand gestures, the SS officer gave some sort of instructions to his men. The two soldiers who propped up my unconscious father, nodded to the SS officer and they then headed for the stairs.

I couldn't take it anymore, I had to do something, anything! – I had to help Father.

My instincts took over as I bolted foolishly towards the SS commander.

There was no plan, but there was a hope – a despairing hope.

My launch felt fast and heavy, powered by a concoction of adrenaline and hate that flooded my blood. A couple of steps into my attack the sound of boots pounding on the floor to the left of me couldn't sway my aim to kill the SS commander, the murderer of my grandma; But a sudden sharp judder impacted the side of my skull just above my ear; I felt my knees buckle and as a blackness took over my vision, I fell forward, head first to the ground. My mother's scream faded away as I lost consciousness.

 **A/N - If you enjoyed this chapter please read on go to the official Facebook page - WhiteEclipseNovel - and hit the "Like" button! :)**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Slaughter

**Chapter 3 – The Slaughter**

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A radiating heat from a nearby fire felt soothing after the long hours I'd just spent in the cold left of my head throbbed as I felt a disorientating sensation of blood rushing into my left ear. Murmuring sounds, the crackling of burning wood and the pelting of rain against a window reverberated around my head. Turning from pitch black to a flickering grey, my vision slowly returned, but I kept my eyes shut, for I was too afraid to see what was waiting for me on the other side of my eye lids. A pain burned on my wrists and as I wiggled them slowly I realized that they were bound to the chair I was sitting on. I could barely move them at all and any movement caused an intense increase in the burning sensation. I tried shifting my feet, but they too were bound tight.

Slowly opening my eyes towards the flicking light of the fire, the room became familiar; I was in our den, our living area where we'd spent so many times as a family conversing in each others company and comfort. My thoughts were short lived as my eyes soon fell upon him, the monstrous Nazi beast; He sat in a chair, in his black uniform, next to the mantle with a cigar hanging out of his mouth, his face smirking with an inhumanly delight.

Anger welled up inside my chest. Tensing all my bodily muscles and bracing myself against the burning ropes that bounded me, I strained in an attempt to break out of the rope – but it was hopeless.

An agonizing moaning sound haunted my left - It sounded like my father, and it sounded as though he was in great pain.

With my nostrils flaring, I cocked my head towards the noise and saw my family bound by rope to our dining chairs that were laid out in a semi circle around the fire place. Groaning, Father sat fastened to the chair on the far side, blood seeped off his fore head – he was barely conscience. Terror consumed my mother's face as she stared back at me, her eyes petrified. My brother's bottom lip trembled as tears streamed down his young, terror stricken face.

A snickering whisper crept up from behind me. Straining my neck further sideways, I turned to look behind me and saw the rest of the Nazi men standing behind us, eagerly waiting. I couldn't see the man that stood behind me, but I could smell his dirty stench; His heavy, smoke burdened breath descended on my neck and his hands kept rubbing up and down the backs of my arms. I shuddered to think what he was currently thinking.

My arm... the bullet... I couldn't feel the pain anymore! Looking down at my left, a ripped off piece of clothing was tightly wrapped around the wound. A small patch of blood had worked its way through the fabric.

My fear had all but diminished the moment my Grandmother was killed – anger and deep hatred had since replaced it.

"What do you want from us?!" I bellowed out hotly at the man smoking the cigar casually.

"Oh little girl, how old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen? Surely you are old enough to know what my men want – what they crave... I cannot deny them of this desire when it is right here, _ready to be served_. They need to have their hunger satisfied... _I_ need to have my hunger satisfied. And you're oh so pretty."

"Go to hell!" I screamed harshly.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot one more detail..." the SS officer continued smugly. "...you are also going to watch your family get slowly murdered"

"No!" I breathed in disbelief.

Both my mother and little brother's sobs became distinctively louder.

Feeling as though we were running out of options, I started moving my shoulders from left to right, putting as much weight as I could into each swing - the burning sensation around my wrists erupted again but I pushed forward gritting my teeth. The chair rocked a little bit on the first try, the legs lifting off the ground only slightly. But the next swing was momentous and the chair lost its balance and tipped sharply to my left.

Not being able to break the fall with my bound hands, I crashed sideways to the ground. The side of my head slapped the floor and searing pain shot through my cheek bone. I could now see my family in full view of our despairing situation. The light from the fire place flickered shadows that scampered on the Nazi's faces as they looked at me fiendishly from their towering positions above my family who sat helplessly below them.

"Should I help..." The soldier who had stood behind me called out to the SS commander who abruptly shook his head in response.

"Let her lay there, she has a good view of her family" said the SS officer, smiling childishly at me.

Opening up my mouth to protest, a sharp pain traveled through my jaw and no more than a squeak escaped my lips. My jaw... it was hurt from the fall.

Speaking in German, the commander addressed his men all of whom responded accordingly by rising shiny metal objects from their belts – knives, our very own knives from the kitchen. Fear and panic returned as I shook on the floor bound to the chair in a despairing attempt to escape. The rope around my ankles and hands burned fiercely again against my skin as I desperately tried to pull myself free.

The soldiers waited, their knives now pressed against my family's throats.

Exhausted, my muscles refused to work anymore and I slumped back on my side to the ground, my eyes open to see my family alive for the last time.

The soldiers each gripped a knife in their right hand and in their left hand they grasped their victim's hair and pulled downwards, forcing my family to look up, exposing their throats upon where the knives threatened malice. My father, mother and brother sat there in still silence, daring not to move an inch. Their sobs had stopped but their breathing was erratic and panicky.

Almost simultaneously, I watched in utter terror as the sharp metal blades cut _slowly_ along their necks. A trail of blood pulsated from under their chins and a haunting whistling sounded from their necks as their lungs gasped for air _through their throats_. A few horrifying seconds later, the soldiers let go of their hair and their heads slumped forward, blood still streaming from their severed necks. Looking up through the tears that streamed out of my eyes, I saw the evil murderer's smiling at me – tormenting me. A deafening scream lingered only in my head as I could now barely open my jaw.

Forcing my head upwards, I peered towards the SS officer, my vision blurry. He stood up off his chair and walked towards me. The soldier who stood behind me and the SS commander grasped the chair that I was tied to and lifted me up back into a sitting position. I felt tugging at my legs and arms as they untied me from the chair.

It was now or never.

I mustered the last of my energy into my legs and pushed them with all my remaining strength to stand up and run away. But my effort was met with large hands that push my shoulders down, forcing me back on the hard chair. It was utterly hopeless. The man who now stood facing me opened his mouth, bearing his blackened teeth, and stuck out his tongue as he moved his face closer to mine. With his face now only inch from mine, the man's repulsive moist tongue slithered upwards on my lips and I felt my stomach wrenched abhorrently.

It then dawned on me that they were all going to rape me.

 **A/N - If you enjoyed this chapter please read on go to the official Facebook page - WhiteEclipseNovel - and hit the "Like" button! :)**


	4. Chapter 4 - The Encounter

**Chapter 4 – The Encounter**

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Instinctively, like a wounded animal fighting for life, I swung my arms up quickly from my sides and pushed my hands towards the man's face. Thumbs protruding, I pressed them strongly against his eye balls; I could feel the soft ball tissue give way as my thumbs dug deeper into his eye sockets, the eye fluid gushed out onto my hands. My stomach dry wrenched once, twice. The man let out a cry of pain and stumbled backwards, his hands covering his eyes sockets. The SS commander, who was still standing behind me, reached his arm around my neck and pressed it against my throat, choking me. I gasped desperately for oxygen but the head lock blocked my airways. Black stars started filling random spots in my already blurred vision – then I blacked out.

* * *

 _Let her be..., she's going to die anyway._

* * *

Slowly my senses trickled back as I drifted towards an enervate consciousness. The room was dark apart from a ray of moon light that entered through a frosty window but I could make out it was still our den. The fireplace had almost burnt out with only handful smoldering embers remaining. I was lying on my back elevated on the hard wooden table, a freezing cold air brushed over my half naked body. My pants had been removed and a horrific sensation of burning came from between my legs. I moved my shaking cold hand to the soreness and felt a thick, stringy, mucky substance around my groin which clung to my fingers like moist jelly.

I _had_ been raped, and now the cold slowly consumed the rest of me. My organs felt the trauma inflicted by the cold as they were steadily shutting down.

I wished I could have cried out in fury, but I was locked in my own body which had been severely numbed by the cold and weakened by the night's sickening ordeal.

 _God please take me now, please take my suffering away._

"God I beg of you!" I screamed but no more than a silent whisper left my frozen lips.

With my eyelids heavy, cold, and barely open, I saw a tall shifty shadow enter the room..It came closer and as it approached me I could just make out that it was a person dressed in a long black coat. Though I couldn't make out its face clearly, as my vision was too unfocused, something about the way it moved made me shudder beyond my coldness - it appeared to walk strangely as though it was gliding.

Slowly lowering its head to mine, it whispered into my ear.

 _"Do you want to die? Or do you want to live?"_ the haunting voice was that of a foreign man, and his sentence echoed repeatedly through my head for what seemed like an infinitesimal eternity. He was now so close to my ear, yet I couldn't feel his breath; but what t I could feel was an assuring presence – it was as though he was talking to me from within my thoughts.

"Kill me" I stammered weakly on the verge of my demise.

"Very well my child – " he whispered soothingly. "...but your death won't be without sacrifice."

His presence descended on my neck and a piercing sting ruptured into my veins, momentarily traversing my body into a frenzied spasm. As the violent convulsions suddenly ceased, the cold blood that once barely flowed through my body along with my frail breathing, also seized to an absolute stillness.

My prayer was becoming reality and as my anatomy shut down the thought of death that was so close felt overwhelmingly welcome.

I closed my eyes in a cold, painful serenity – my suffering was finally over.

 **A/N - If you enjoyed this chapter please read on go to the official Facebook page - WhiteEclipseNovel - and hit the "Like" button! :)**


	5. Chapter 5 - School Day (Present)

**Chapter 5 – School Day**

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 **Jackson Valley, Georgia, United States - Present Day**

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It was just another boring school day I thought solemnly as I rode to school along the smooth sidewalk which was partially covered with fallen leaves from the autumn trees that lined the road; Fall always brought out the color in my childhood hometown of Jackson Valley.

Taking the same monotonous route Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, riding my bike to school was something I had done for years; The same bike, the same corners, the same uneventful, boring route.

With the brisk Fall air brushing gently across my face, I reduced my speed, took a left bend then pushed my weight down on my pedals picking up the pace again.

Approaching my next turn off, I slowed down again before taking a blind right corner into the next street. A hundred yards later I approached Mrs Weatherly's house where she she was in her front garden pruning her front hedge. Waving and flashing a fake smile, I rode past her quickly eager to avoid any uncomfortable conversation - after all she was a little strange and made me feel more awkward than I already was.

Mrs Weatherly was normally in her front garden ready to wave to me as I rode to school, and come to think of it, she looked as though she hadn't aged a day since I could remember - she had always appeared old. She gently smiled at me from underneath her large green hat and I noticed how the deep long wrinkles on her face curved up around her eyes to reveal a little softness through her otherwise leathery skin. She also wore an ugly cardigan that had a floral pattern on it, even through the hot summer months. Some old people are a little bit adorable I thought amusingly.

Arriving at the school's front car park which buzzed chaotically with some students being dropped off by their parents, and others, typically seniors who sped in their cars hunting around for a park, I remained close to the sidewalk trying to avoid as much of the havoc as possible: just before school started, the front of Jackson Valley High resembled more of a zoo than a high school.

I squeezed on my bike's brake lever and slowed down preparing myself to cross the jungle-like car park. Gazing upon the seniors' cars with envy, I often day-dreamed about driving myself to school... I had my licence, but my Mom's car was used only for the essential runs as we couldn't afford unnecessary trips; the trip to school was one of these... Besides she needed the car during the day and I didn't want to trouble her with dropping me off to school - she had more than enough on her plate to deal with.

Leaning forward, I swung my right leg behind me sending it over the rear wheel and to the other pedal, then as I squeezed on my bike's brakes I cautiously approached the bike stand that was in the middle of a traffic island close to the school's entrance, careful to avoid any cars or foot traffic. Hopping off the bike, I slotted the front wheel into the rack, knelt down and swung my black school bag off my shoulders, placing it on the ground.

The morning sun heated the back of my neck between the bottom of my helmet and the collar of my black band t-shirt. At least it's not raining today, I thought positively as I put my hand into my school bag to grab out the locking chain. Fumbling around for a few seconds, frustration soon took over and I harshly pulled the zips fully open in hope of locating the lock.

" _Shit_ " I hushed under my breath - the bike lock was not in the backpack.

There was no time to ride back home and get it.

I zipped close the bag and stood up. Trying not to look too worried, I pulled the bike out of the rack and moved it so that it fitted between a cluster other bikes further down, trying to blend it in - safety in numbers right?

After removing my helmet and hanging it on the handle bar, I ran my fingers through my lengthy black hair which hadn't had a wash in weeks but for some reason I felt it was necessary to at least tidy it after the helmet had messed it up.

I tried my best to quickly look like I was locking up my bike. Hopefully no one will notice it's not locked up...

"Morning Jacob, you faggot!" a familiar, dreadful voice yelled out from across the car park.

It was Quentin, a Senior one year up from me who took pleasure in putting me down every opportunity, usually be in the form of verbal insults; the school counselor once forced me into her office and tried to tell me that he picks on me because he's jealous in someway, but what could he possible be jealous of? His father owned the only department store in town and they were probably the richest family in the area; He drove a late model Audi which he took pride in dressing it up with over-sized aftermarket wheels and a ridiculous body kit - what a showoff. Whereas I rode to school on a bike that had only one gear and no fancy suspension. My mom and I could be classified as middle-class poor; her medical bills were mounting and it was luxury if we could treat ourselves to McDonald's for dinner. There was nothing Quentin could be jealous of.

Quentin and his superficial girlfriend, Melanie, had just gotten out of his late model Audi and were strutting towards the school entrance. Quentin had his arm sportingly around Melanie as though she was a prized trophy.

Cliché I know... it makes me sick.

A sensation of heat flowed to my head and I hoped that my face was not turning as red as it felt - this often happened to me under stressful or embarrassing situations and it in was highly embarrassing.

Brushing my hair away from my face, I stood up preparing to address Quentin, but hoped for avoidance. I backed out of the space between the bikes and starting walking towards the iron school gates. Supposedly I could've loitered around the bikes but somehow that felt worse then pretending Quentin's remarks didn't effect me.

Quentin and Melanie narrowed in towards me as I both approached the gates.

"Hi Quentin" I mistakenly blurted out, unnerved by my timidness.

"What did you say?" Quentin jeered loudly.

"Umm, Hi Que…" I stammered, feeling beyond foolish.

"Whatever dork" Quentin interrupted harshly as he turned to look at Melanie. "...jeez, what a fucking loser..." he muttered to her. Melanie smirked at me nodding in agreement.

My already minuscule ego took a hit.

With my confidence at an all time low, I walked as slowly as I could without looking out of place hoping Quentin would not address me again. While they walked ahead of me they thankfully soon disappeared (without acknowledging me a second time, thank god) into the bottleneck of students who were slowly sifting into the the double doors of the the school entrance situated at the top of a set of concrete steps.

Whew, that was a _relatively_ easy morning so far I thought as I waited at the bottom of the stairs off to the side of the crowd, attempting to look inconspicuous..

Not a fan of crowds, as the times when I had been in one, a sudden sensation to run away tended to overwhelm me. Feelings of being trapped and wanting to escape would wash over my thoughts and I had to actively calm myself down to stay in a crowd. After experiencing a few situations, I later had learnt that knowing where my closest exit was helped the intensity of the voices in my head to subside. My mother had taken me to a couple of specialist a few years ago where they did a few simple tests, however no resolution came of it; The best they could advise me on was that hopefully I would someday grow out of it. My solution was to avoid them where possible, however my secret was difficult to mask at school where crowds formed regularly... Often I found myself standing on the outer parameter of the masses of people, even though it felt damn awkward. I wondered if people at school will one day notice this pattern, well unlikely of course..., no-one saw me anyway...

Once the crowd dwindled down to just a few students, I walked up the smooth concrete stairs and tilted my head upwards giving the teacher, Mr Henry, a small smile of acknowledgement. This was better than saying "hi" to a Jackson Valley High School teacher as I was sure to be mocked for this. I believed Mr Henry knew this, so a small smile in return seemed to have sufficed.

Mr Henry strangely (and a bit creepily) befriended me on my first day of High School some years back, and had noticed that I lacked in friends. He must have felt sorry for me, and so he gave, what it felt like, more attention to me than the other students. I didn't ask for it and I didn't want it.

Mr Henry, the Science Head, usually wore an eighties brown blazer and an equally ugly pair of brown loafers. Most mornings he stood off to the side of the school entrance overseeing the flow of students through his black rectangular spectacles that sat on his marginally bridged nose.

"Jason..., empty your pockets..." Mr Henry said sternly as he pulled a known problem student aside. "...and give them to me..."

"But sir! It's a brand new pack - It's not even open!" Jason protested weakly.

"Jason, hand over your cigarettes now..., and I won't report you..." Mr Henry replied shortly.

"Fine..., you're probably going to smoke them yourself anyway..." Jason's whine faded as I walked past them and through the school's heavy, prison-like doors.

The main hallway walls were dull, painted a dreary light grey color and were lined with blemish-free navy blue lockers. The lino floors, detailed in a random tile pattern, reflected the recessed square fluorescent lights that illuminated from the white tiled cork ceiling - but by the end of the day the foot traffic of the students walking class to class dulled this gleam down to matte.

Through the jungle of students conversing in the hallway, I took a deep breath and calmly headed towards my locker, counting down my steps.

Down the hall and left into the east wing, I caught sight of Andy who was waiting for me at my locker.

I nodded and he nodded back; I had only one friend at school, just one. _But he was a good one._

"Hey Jacob, how are you this morning?" he said, his voice slightly husky.

"Yeah, just the usual, how bout you?" I replied unenthusiastic as I turned the combination mechanism on my locker.

"Yeah alright, what's up Jacob? You seem a bit… down," he said with slight concern shifting his lanky body off my locker and standing straight. "...well you're _normally_ down, but today you seem further down then usual..."

"I couldn't lock up my stupid bike this morning, I forgot the bike lock. God, I hope it doesn't get stolen" I muttered worryingly.

"I'm sure it'd be alright" he replied confidently, trying to lift my worry.

"Yeah, you're probably right" I sighed. "And then there was Quentin, fuck I hate him."

"We all know he's a bit of a dick, nothing new there. Come on, let's head to class before we're late"

Shutting the locker door harder then necessary, I spun the lock mechanism to secure it and Andy and I then headed towards our first class of the day, History.

 **A/N - If you enjoyed this chapter please read on go to the official Facebook page - WhiteEclipseNovel - and hit the "Like" button! :)**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Lion's Den

**Chapter 6 - The Lion's Den**

* * *

Pushing open the brown class door, I stepped into my last and favorite class of the day, Science, and although I hated to admit it, I kind of enjoyed this class. Science was a precise and predictable subject, and it was these qualities I enjoyed.

Mr Henry was the teacher and he possessed an extraordinary ability to engage his students in whatever subject he was teaching. A few months ago, Mr Henry was in my History class relieving and he managed to spark a fragment of interest in the students - something I thought I would never see in any History class.

To my delight, Astronomy was the new topic of the month and today's subject was the ever mysterious Black Hole. "BLACK HOLES" had been written in large messy large letters on the top of the black board that was adjacent to the class door to the right; In front of the black board was a tired looking wooden desk, where papers were poorly stacked in piles on the corners threatening to slide off.

Behind the desk sat an equally untidy Mr Henry, hunched over his desk peering into a large book; Turning a page with one hand, his other was occupied with a pen that he was twirling between his fingers. His glasses sat on the end of his nose as he looked intently over text on some old looking pages. Being a little early, Mr Henry hadn't seemed to notice that I had entered the room.

"Afternoon, Mr Henry" I said softly trying not to startle him.

"Oh hi, hi Jacob, please take a seat" the teacher stammered sounding a little caught off guard.

Mr Henry hastily closed the thick book and I spotted a blotchy circular red symbol on the upper center and smaller hieroglyphs below that gave it a stark contrast against the robust looking, yet faded black leather cover. The outer edges were bound with blood-red stitching. It was not your average looking bible.

Mr Henry picked the book up and I noticed instantly that the back had a similar mirrored layout; however the symbols were etched neatly and the stitching on the edges were in a pearl, luminescence white, not red.

The etching on the cover of the book was definitely not English, but more like an archaic style of language, similar to that of ancient Egyptian ideograms.

Mr Henry guided the heavy book with two hands and struggled to twist his body to the left giving out a little groan. The book fell out of my sight and disappeared behind the desk and into the drawers. The thud of the the lock-bolt engaging echoed through the empty classroom as Mr Henry locked the book out of sight.

Mr Henry looked up slowly and saw me still standing in front of the desk, intrigued.

"Jacob, _please will you take a seat_?" he reiterated now sounding a little annoyed..

"What was that book?" I asked casually, mildly curious, "it looked interesting"

"It's just a little side project Jacob" Mr Henry replied swiftly, placing his hand that held the drawer key inside his inside blazer pocket. " _Now go sit down_ "

Turning to face the back of the class, I shrugged slightly as if trying to deflect the rejection.

"Okay, sorry sir" I murmured, feeling a heat rushing to my head for the second time in a single day.

Wow, I was not expecting this response; My favorite teacher pushed my literacy curiosity away.

Scuffling awkwardly on my tired school shoes, that I couldn't afford to replace, I headed somewhat defeated to the rear of the room. Normally I sat somewhere in the middle and off to the side in Mr Henry's class, but today I felt like being invisible in the furthermost back corner after the harsh way Mr Henry had spoken to me. Zipping open my bag to take out my bulky science book, the pattering sound of scores of shoes entered the class. I gazed up to see the stream of my fellow class "mates" massing into the room in pairs, conversing loudly to one another.

Sam, the head of the Bully brigade, walked down the aisle toward the back of the classroom between the white sharp cornered desk tops, looked back and elbowed an unfortunate kid who then clumsily stumbled backwards in his chair. Mr Henry, who was standing in front of the black board, marking in chalk the day's lesson, heard the commotion and turned around ready to dish out a warning, but he was too late. The bully had turned his back to the teacher and Mr Henry couldn't be sure, not matter how much he suspected, who caused this brief mayhem in his classroom, so he turned back around.

Sam walked with an arrogant step as he continued towards the back, his heavy boots clonking against the whimpering floor boards. He looked menacing with his short, shaven hair and large stature. Towering over the students who followed at a cautious distance behind him, Sam stood well over 6 and a half feet tall, a giant even for an adult. His stocky build only added to his mammoth appearance and the shady stumble on his face compounded his intimidating image.

Sam made a gun like shape out of his right hand and mockingly aimed it towards me and pretended to cock and then shoot it as he sat down in the opposite back corner of the classroom. Feeling a resurgence of heat rush to my head, I moved my focus to the front of the room trying to look confident and unaffected by Sam's deathly gesture.

The class soon filled up and the bell that signaled the start of class rang just as the last of the students were finding seats.

Where is Andy? He must be running late. If he doesn't turn up, I'll be sitting by myself, again...

Andy was only in a handful of my classes, and in all the other classes, I generally sat on my own.

 _I so can't wait for school to be over..._

The noise in the room starting to rise with murmuring and hushed conversations, conversations that I considered trivial and shallow:

"What nail polish are you wearing, it looks expensive" a girl that sat ahead of me asked the person next to her.

"My parents agreed I can upgrade my computer... they're giving me a thousand dollars to spend this weekend at the PC Super Store" a boy told his friend who sat next to him on the desk to the right of me.

"I got all the trophies on Call of Duty last night" another boy said excitedly to his desk partner who nodded his head impressed.

These students around me have such narrow thoughts, views and aspirations... why can't I just be a normal teenager and indulge myself in teenager stuff like the rest of them?

Black holes, I thought, are way more interesting and significant than these tiny conversations.

 _Jeez, I must be a nerd._

"Alright class, please settle down" Mr Henry said with a mildly coerced tone.

The conversations lowered to a whisper.

"Today's topic is Black Holes" Mr Henry started bellowing out to quieten the whispers down.

"Who can tell me anything about Black Holes? And before any of you start, no, there are no funny jokes about Black Holes in my class, so just please don't even... I'm mainly talking about you Seth."

"What do you mean Sir?" Seth, the stereotypical class clown, protested in a ridiculing sort of way. Come to think of it, he almost looked like an _actual clown_ with his reddish, curly hair that could only be described as a mop; He also had a very pale complexion that made his thick lips appear redder than they actually were. Seth had been held back a year and it wasn't hard to see why... There were a few loose screws in his head and every now he would do something completely stupid; for example, in the first week of school this year, he thought gaining popularity by dunking his head in the school toilets while standing on his hands would help him break the ice and make more friends; it was only entertaining for a couple of minutes before the small crowd that had gathered in the toilets to watch the spectacle realized that this guy, Seth, was a bit mental.

At least he had people's attention; even just for minute or two... and he's probably got more friends than me too.

That very thought made me sigh loudly – so loud in fact that I had interrupted Mr Henry's grilling to Seth!

"What? Bored already Jacob?" Mr Henry said in mockingly pitched tone.

"Sorry sir" I replied, feeling the classes' ears waiting for the teacher's response. "I'm not bored...I like black holes..." I continued my appeal to the teacher, hoping to divert his attention back to teaching.

But it was too late.

The class erupted in a cacophony of laughter, snorting and palms smacking the desks, as I protested, raising my voice "But I do! I like the _subject_ of black holes! Get your minds out of the gutter!".

A student pointed out to the rest of the class how red my entire face becoming; The humiliation was too great for me as I felt my face burning with embarrassment.

This was not the sort of attention I was hoping for.

"Quick, get your sunglasses and sun block on before Jacob's head blinds you!" a student said from the diagonally opposite corner of the class.

"Quiet! QUIET!" Mr Henry bellowed out loudly over the top of the racket, "Jacob, go to the principal's office!"

"But sir I didn't mean..." but my pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Jacob Chase! Go, NOW!" Mr Henry injected irately.

After roughly stuffing my book into the bag, I stood up with a small grunt.

Piqued, I walked towards the front of the class making sure I avoided eye contact with the teacher and all the students whose eyes I could feel upon me in stabbing judgement.

Having reached the front of the classroom, I glanced down at the floor and opened up the door to the hallway. Walking out into the empty hallway with my head hung in defeat, I almost bumped heads with Mrs Aiken, the Principal.

Dressed in a formal black blazer and widen black business pants, Mrs Aiken stood stout with her chin pitched higher than it looked comfortable. Her fine straight blonde hair glistened in the hallway lights and swung in unison as she took a step back and raised her hands to her chest as if to shield herself.

"Jacob, please watch where you are going!" she said in a firm high pitched voice "...and chin up boy!".

"Sorry miss" I replied promptly, hoping not to continue any unnecessary conversation with her.

The principal was a straight shooting, no nonsense, ex-military personality and this was an advantage to the school as this tough exterior tended to keep most of the school students within the boundaries, with the odd exception of course. She also knew everyone's names at school, and probably their records too.

I started to walk towards the stairs at the end of the hallway when I heard Mr Henry yell out my name. Turning around I spotted Mr Henry gesturing for me to come back. Feeling a little bit intimidated, I made my way back swiftly to Mr Henry and Mrs Aiken who both now stood in conversation just outside the shut classroom door.

"Jacob, Mr Henry tells me that you were being disruptive..." Mrs Aiken said disappointingly "This is not like you, your record is clean." her voice turned, now sounding curious.

Feeling the urge to protest about unfair treatment, I restrained myself, biting my tongue and simply replied "Sorry Mrs Aiken".

Betrayal now flooded my thoughts: Why had Mr Henry been so sharp with me today? I thought he was my favorite teacher! Did he realize how much it hurt having the entire class laugh at me?

Looking briefly at Mr Henry, I expected his eyes to be glaring back at me, but to my surprise he was gazing back with a soft, buoyant look on his face. I was momentarily confused by this before Mrs Aiken said with an authority "Right then, Mr Henry, you continue with your class, and I will escort this _trouble maker_ to my office".

* * *

Mrs Aiken walked faster than most people even with her short legs and I trailed behind by a meter; by the time we were almost at the base of the stairs, I had fallen behind by two meters. I couldn't jog or run to catch up either, as this was against the hall rules.

Catch twenty two huh?

We walked up the stairs and Mrs Aiken stopped at the middle landing that turned a right-angled corner. She then swiveled her body half around and looked down at me as I was still completing the first flight of stairs.

"Come on Jacob, stop stalling!"

I wasn't stalling - I simply couldn't keep up!

However, before I could reply she turned back around and marched up the last group of stairs, the heals of her shoes clapping loudly.

Standing at the stop of the staircase, I caught a glimpse of the principal opening up the door to her office and disappearing into it.

Catching a quick breath, I walked into the principal office not knowing what was going to happen to me as this was my first time I'd been called into the Principal's office, which was famously know among the students as The Lion's Den.

 **A/N - If you enjoyed this chapter please read on go to the official Facebook page - WhiteEclipseNovel - and hit the "Like" button! :)**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Experience

**Chapter 7 – The Experience**

* * *

The principal's office was on the second floor of the School's main building and it looked down upon the front entrance through a single, floor to ceiling height windows that were separated by a excessive number of sashes. Large leafed tropical looking plants sat in the corners on either side of the window and in the opposing rear corners of the room were an American flag, which hung off a brass pole, and the school flag which hung of a chrome pole. Vertically mounted wood paneled walls gave the appearance of prison-like bars but the room had a presidential feel, which was not surprising given Mrs Aiken's military prowess.

A large dark brown antique desk stood a couple of yards from the towering window and it's surface was precisely organised with a computer screen perfectly square on in one corner, and a neatly stacked pile of papers on the other. A high-back, expensive looking leather chair separated the desk and the window and two green colored fabric chairs faced the window on the other side of the desk... in a confrontational way.

"Please have a seat Jacob..." the principal said in a somewhat relaxed tone from behind her behemoth of a desk.

 _Please have a seat._

"...and close the door behind you."

I closed the door gently behind me and as I waited for further instructions from Mrs Aiken, I saw another student sitting in one of the chairs... a girl.

Her long ash blonde hair shimmered with streaks of light as it flowed weightlessly over the back of the chair. She turned her head slowly to look at me, the 'trouble maker', and my perceived world gradually became motionless.

"You will be serving detention in here, folding the school newsletters, _as the machine has broken down and we're_..." The principal's voice slowed and faded away to a distant silence.

The walls of the office silently broke away from their foundations and accelerated away into a blank infinity, as did the now static Mrs Aiken and her desk. The floor dissipated underneath my feet into a wispy fog and I felt the gravity lift off my body. A blissful booming yet calming unworldly sound omitted from all around the existing black space, and it resonated inside me as I felt for the first time in my life that I was connected to something internally prodigious yet externally universal. Radiating warmth emitted from a beam of intense star-white light that originated from a point in the vast distance and illuminated the girl that sat in the chair who hadn't moved an inch; Her brilliant blue topaz eyes sparkled wildly at me with pure grace as I felt my heart beat slowing down, almost to a stop...

" _Jacob_..." was said slowly from a voice that came from an undetectable place that surrounded me; but the girls lips hadn't moved.

A loud and sharp clamp sound rippled through the blank space and the girl's image wavered with slight distortion and my heart starting beating faster now, my weight returning to my feet.

" _Jacob_ " the voice said again, but louder and more clear than before.

Another clamping sound erupted and the blank space suddenly repopulated with worldly mass as the paneled walls of the principal's office snapped back into place with the sound of a zip that echoed quietly for a split second.

"JACOB!" Mrs Aiken yelled from behind her desk where she was now standing hunched over with her fists flat on the desktop.

"I'm sorry Mrs Aiken." I replied hastily, feeling foolish and stunned from the experience.

Mrs Aiken sat back down on the chair, her face now a bright glowing shade of red.

 _"As I was saying Jacob before I lost your attention..."_ she said hotly"...You will be serving detention in here folding the school newsletters, as the machine is broken. And after you have finished that, there are more brochures for the school play that also need folding. That should keep you busy... but if you finish that I'll find something else for you to do. Now, station yourself over there!" She ordered pointing to a small desk in the corner which sat half hidden under one of the leaves of the tropical plant. "...Oh and I was going to say Jacob, ' _don't mind our new student here'_ , but I won't as I see she has already made an impression on you. Her name is Jill."

"Hi Jacob, nice to meet you" Jill's voice sang divinely to my ears.

Smiling overly wide, I wanted to say hi back but I couldn't; I was frozen with disbelief from what I had just experienced and was thunderstruck by her exquisiteness.

"Err, hi, Jill." I managed to squeak out.

She softly smiled back at me in acknowledgement as I started to trail off again into Neverland.

Mrs Aiken interrupted sharply" _Now!_ Jacob!".

Tearing my eyes away from the beauty in the chair, I walked with a tiny bounce in my step to the small wooden desk which was barely big enough to fit the receded chair that was underneath it. There was a large pile of paper stacked neatly on the desk and as I pulled the green chair out and sat down I couldn't help myself; I took a sneaky peak at Jill from across room, but instead got Mrs Aiken's stare back at me, who was making sure that I had started my tasks of punishment.

Thoughts rushed through my head as I started folding the brochures.

* * *

Who was that girl?

Well, I know here name, but where did she come from?

Why did she have such a strange effect on me?

Did she also experience what I had just experienced?

* * *

Overhearing Jill and the principal discuss class clashes and what extra-curricular activities are on offer at Jackson Valley High, my mind drifted off once more dwelling on what just happened until a sentence abruptly pulled me out from my pit of thoughts...

"Thank you very much Mrs Aiken, you were very helpful and I'm very excited to start tomorrow."

"No, no, thank you Jill for being an absolute pleasure to take on the orientation of the school, you know I do a quite a few of them and they do get tiresome, but like I said, you were a complete pleasure and I really do hope that you find that Jackson Valley High has plenty of offers for you." Mrs Aiken's reply was unusually friendly... almost compliant.

I turned around snapping out of my haze of thoughts to see the back of Jill who was now walking towards the door; She glanced back at me and cheekily whispered "See you tomorrow, Jacob..."

Her lips moved subtly, just enough so that only I could only hear her; but then as she continued to amble out of the room, I clumsily blurted out.

"Yeah, see you!" I said in an ill-attempted coolness.

"Jacob, get back to it!" Mrs Aiken snapped at me.

 **A/N - If you enjoyed this chapter please read on go to the official Facebook page - WhiteEclipseNovel - and hit the "Like" button! :)**


	8. Chapter 8 - The Walk Home

**Chapter 8 – The Walk Home**

* * *

The school bell rang signalling the end of another day and as I sat in the corner of the principal's office folding the last of the school brochures, itching to leave, I gazed outside noticing that the clouds had suddenly appeared to have darkened over the last half hour and were now threatening to rain. Standing up from the tiny corner desk I walked over to Mrs Aiken's large desk where Mrs Aiken sat upright, looking as though she was engrossed behind her computer screen.

"Ahem" I cleared my throat hoping to detract her from the screen.

"Yes Jacob." Mrs Aiken said drowsily "...yes, you may go home – I do not want to see you here again alright?"

"Yes madam"

* * *

The fresh air outside was heavy and moist, but was better than the hot stuffy afternoon air that was trapped in the room I had just spent over an hour in.

Walking down the concrete steps out from the school entrance, my feet still felt light from the encounter with Jill. The car park was mostly deserted with the exception of only a few small groups of students who hung around by their cars; Halfway down the car park, a modified looking car had its bonnet up as three guys conversed around the engine bay occasionally laughing, while on the side closest to the school entrance sat two other vehicles; a red car which had three girls inside and a blue pickup that homed had a single occupant. They were parked side-on to each other while the group of seniors inside the vehicles socialized loudly with the other; I knew them, their names and faces, but I doubted they even saw me as I walked out into the car park... probably a good thing.

"Shit shit, shit.., my bike!" I said in a small panic as I remembered the morning's dilemma.

At a jogging pace, I quickly got to the bike rack and noticed that my bike was still there in the same place that I left it at the start of the day.

"Thank God!" I breathed a sigh of relief.

As I pulled my bike from the rack drops of rain started to patter on the surrounding pavement giving off a wet earthy smell.

Oh no, rain, I worried, knowing the ride home was going to get me uncomfortably soaked.

All the remaining cars that had lingered in the car park drove off except for one; The blue pickup had moved slightly and was now arrogantly parked blocking the entrance to the school gate. The fellow senior driver appeared to be talking to someone but the truck blocked my view of who it was. The driver suddenly shook his head hotly and gestured angrily at what the person out of view must have said before driving off at an aggressive pace, his tires slipping on the asphalt.

It began to rain steadily and as I peered through the mist that arose off the warm tarmac I saw Jill standing there, facing the sky with her hands raised above her head; her mouth was opened wide as though she was attempting to catch the rain drops in her mouth! I couldn't help but stare with a look of humored confusion.

As I stood still feeling the cold rain seep its way down behind my shirt, thoughts swirled through my head. What the hell is she doing? _God she is beautiful._

Tilting her head forward, Jill spotted me and jogged clumsily over in my direction. I tried to look casual, but it was hopeless as I just stood awkwardly in the rain.

"Don't you love it Jacob?" she said excitedly.

"What? Love the rain?" I replied somewhat stumped.

"Doesn't it feel refreshing on your skin?" Jill said in a carefree tone.

"It's cold and wet, if that's what you mean." I replied intrigued. "Just before... were you trying to drink the rain?"

"Yeah! That's right!" Jill said laughing. "...it's the purest form of water and I think it tastes really, really good".

"But it's not exactly pure though is it? It picks up dust particles on the way down and..." I trailed off, instantly regretting my choice of words as I shifted my weight uncomfortably.

"So Jacob..." Jill began softly, changing the subject abruptly. "are you... biking home?"

"Um.., yeah..." I trailed off. "Are you... walking home?"

"Sure am, probably do some skipping and jumping in some puddles too!" she replied cheekily, blinking the dots of rain from her eyes. "I'm not a stalker or anything but which way are you heading?"

"Um... well... I'm off down... that way..." I stuttered pointing to my left momentarily.

"Cool, I'm that way too!" Jill paused "...do you mind if I walk with you?"

"Yeah okay, that'd be cool." I said coolly.

"I promise I won't splash you or push you into a puddle" Jill said with a hint of sarcasm and playfulness in her giggling voice.

"But you can't..., I mean, _we just met_ " my attempt at matching Jill's enthusiastic energy failed.

 _"...we just met..." what a dumb thing to say! Why the hell did I just say that..?_

I pushed my bike along while Jill walked beside me. The steady rain had soaked both of our clothes but for once in my life, I didn't care. We walked along for a few blocks in a strangely comfortable silence, every now and then glancing at each other smiling.

"So... Where are you from?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Roswell, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, ' _the city too busy to hate'_ "

"Cool" only a single word left my mouth; I couldn't think of any questions, damn it.

A few moments pass awkwardly.

"Are you from here?" asked Jill, sparking up the conversation again.

"Um, yeah, my mum moved here when I was young - been here ever since." I answered slightly reserved.

Another long silence emerged; My mind was clouded with thoughts of the afternoon and I struggled to think of anything else to say. Soaked from the rain, my cheap shoes started making an annoying squishing sound no matter how I walked.

"So..." Jill said looking at me with her sparkling blue crystal eyes, blinking off the large rain drops that fell from the leaves above "...what do you like to do?"

"Like in my spare time?" I replied quickly, thankful that the silence was now broken.

"Yeah, so, what do you do for fun around here?" Jill asked again hitting my shoulder playfully with her fist.

"Some dumb stuff really." I brushed off.

"Like what?" Jill persisted.

"Well what do YOU do for fun?" I said trying to shift the focus onto her.

"Okay, okay, I'll play." Jill replied performing a little childish skip. "I like playing guitar".

"That's cool" I said looking at Jill, noticing how she swung her arms excessively while she strolled along next to me.

"How long have you been playing the guitar for?" I asked, feeling a small surge of confidence.

"Well, my Dad bought me a guitar for my fifth birthday... so, um like over ten years... makes me sound old! Anyway, he helped get me started at first... he, um, also played when he was young but never carried it on. It didn't take long before I was teaching him! You know, it was quality Daddy Daughter time..."

"Oh cool," I replied dully as I felt the emotional hole my father left inside me expand slightly "...and what sort of music do you play?"

"Hope this doesn't weird you out but I play..." Jill smirked "um... country music"

" _Oh god_ " my heart sunk slightly as I let out a large playful, disappointing sigh.

"Just kidding" chuckled Jill. "I actually enjoy doing my own interpretation of all sorts of music...I guess, I like trying to convert the feel-good energy of a song into an intimate, stripped down sound... Sorry, you probably think I'm strange."

"No, no, I think I understand" hesitating I replied "...and besides, I thought you were weird when you started trying to drink the water from the sky!" A small chuckle escaped my lips.

Jill laughed, beaming a cute smile.

"And you Jacob?"

"Kind of the same..., I like trying to write music on the computer. But I'm not very good at it." I trailed off.

"What sort of music?" Jill asked.

"Trying to mix rock with dance music, but it's a tough combination that often turns to shit."

Turning a corner we walked past Mrs Weatherly's house.

"Oh, wait up" Jill said suddenly veering off the sidewalk and on to a grass patch.

I stopped curiously "...what's up?"

"Ah..." Jill said as she picked something off the ground "just got to put this little guy back in his home".

Jill held her hand up so that I could see the worm helplessly wriggling in her hand.

"I see" I said discerningly.

She lowered herself close to Mrs. Weatherly's white picket fence and placed the worm gently on the soil underneath the rose plants. Covering the worm with lose soil, she pulled her hand out from between the pickets and gave out a little yelp of pain.

"What's wrong?" I said alarmed, quickly placing my bike on the ground.

"Nothing, I just pricked my finger on a thorn, I'm so clumsy." Jill replied, a tiny bit shaken from the fright.

"Let me see" I extended my hand out to Jill's.

She held her palm up towards me and I cupped her hand in mine; as the rain drops landed gracefully on her hand, a small drop of blood pooled on the tip of her index finger.

 _Oh my god! I'm holding her hand._

My senses dwindled as I dazedly raised Jill's wounded hand to my mouth. Pressing my lips to her pricked finger, I could taste the sweet metallic blood hit my tongue.

"I'm sorry" I said apologizing as I came to, lowering Jill's hand and then letting it go.

"That's okay Jacob" Jill replied shrugging "I guess now we are both officially a bit strange eh?"

"Oh my bike" I replied changing the subject suddenly.

I picked my bike up off the grass and noticed a movement from behind the net curtains in Mrs. Weatherly's front bay window. With my eyes squinted, I spotted the shape of a shadowy figure suddenly and unnaturally glide out of view.

That was strange, the way it moved, glided...

I won't tell Jill, she already thinks I'm strange.

A couple of blocks further, Jill and I came to a stop in front of a pale orange brick house that stood two stories tall, it's window and entrance frames painted a contrasting white. Light brown shutters flanked all the windows breaking up the large flat face of the front of the home.

"Well, this is me" Jill said rocking back and forth on the tips of her toes.

Perking up I replied "I'm just over there!".

I pointed across the street to my house that was only two doors down, but remained in plain sight between the tree trunks.

"Oh wow! You're just over the street!" Jill said excitedly "Did you want to be my walking partner to school tomorrow morning? You don't have to be though, you probably want to bike to school anyway?" Jill paused for a split second.

I choked on my reply, shocked at her proposal.

 _Jill? My walking partner?_

"Anyway I guess I'll see you around at school then…" Jill's tone pitched down slightly.

After another brief pause, I finally found my mouth muscles again.

"Hey Jill, I don't mean to pry; back at the school, at the car park..., what was the guy in the blue truck doing?"

"He was offering me a lift home, so I wouldn't have to get wet. But I said 'no – I'm walking home with you'" Jill smiled "He told me I was crazy but it's not like I care what people think of me. The jerk got a bit angry and drove off"

I tried not to look too smitten, my smile widening as my face heated up.

"Thanks for walking me home" I started quickly "I'll see you at school tomorrow, I hope".

"Okay, see you tomorrow..." Jill paused for a second glancing at the pathway that lead to her front door.

"Yeah, cool, I'll walk with you tomorrow. See you around seven?" I replied, barely containing my ever growing smile.

"That'd be great." Jill smiled softly back at me, the rain continuing to stream gently down her face as she tucked a clump of wet ash hair behind her ear.

Ripping myself from Jill's beautiful eyes before she noticed my face getting bright red, I pushed the bike across the street, up the front steps of my house and through the front door, dragging my wet bike inside.


	9. Chapter 9 - The First Night

**Chapter 9 – First Night**

"Dinners ready mum!" my yell spread throughout the house from the kitchen.

Another school night, another dinner made for my ailing mother and I. Every day felt like a gamble as her extremely rare and untreatable cancer, which was discovered several years ago, would be worse some days and be better on others. What was certain was that her bad days were becoming more frequent, and I know I shouldn't say it, but it meant that I had an ever growing mountain of house chores to do: preparing meals, washing up, laundry, grocery shopping and the list goes on.

We sat at the table eating spaghetti meatballs (one of only a handful of meals I am able to make) as I told Mom about the new girl, Jill. She gently smiled, tucking some of her sandy blonde hair behind her head and tying it up into a messy bun; I could tell that she had picked up how my mood had improved from my normal dreary self.

After dinner, I hunted around our dated two story home for my freakin' bike lock, but I couldn't find it anywhere!

Finally, after cursing way too much from sheer frustration, I gave up searching for the lock and headed over to my mum who had fallen asleep on the worn out couch in the den after watching a re-run of "The Love Boat". Giving her a light peck on her forehead, I pulled the thick tartan blanket up over her shoulders and switched the television off. I made my way up the straight carpeted stair case, to the bathroom where first I showered and then brushed my teeth.

Looking into the bathroom mirror, my green hazel eyes stared back worryingly.

 _What if I'm going to get cancer like my mum? What if it's hereditary?_

Then the other worries flooded in:

 _The laundry needed doing, I was running out of clothes._

 _The stack of dishes on the kitchen bench needed washing as our dishwasher had broken down and we couldn't afford to have it fixed._

 _That geography assignment about the Middle East I'd been putting off for weeks now._

Then Jill's beautiful face flashed into my thoughts, lifting me out from my little worry attack.

Walking into my corner bedroom, I jumped onto my bed which sat directly underneath the only window in the room. Peering through the soaking pane of glass, between the rain drops that randomly slid down the window, I could see Jill's house diagonally across the street past the street lamps. A surge of anxiousness waved across me as I worried Jill would spot me spying on her.

Her lights were out anyway.

Probably a good thing.

Feeling slightly guilty thinking that I might see her without her knowing, I pulled the curtains shut and lay on the bed completely exhausted and glanced around my room.

Band posters overlapped each other as they fought for space on my bedroom walls. Across the room from my bed, a lava lamp and a laptop sat on my small computer desk and piles of books sat untidily on a bookcase gathering dust, obviously untouched for some time.

I turned off the bed light and lay awake for some time, pondering the day that had just been with Jill dominating my every thought.

 _Hmm, Jill._

* * *

The alarm clock on my phone snapped on and I awoke with a sudden gasping jolt; Opening my drowsy eyes, I fumbled for the phone that sat vibrating excessively on the bed side cabinet. Turning the alarm off, I sat up on the bed and opened the curtains. The sun pieced brightly through the window and stung my barely awakened, tired eyes. I blocked the sun with my hand and peered through the gaps between my fingers to catch a sneaky peek of Jill's house; My heart throbbed faster, my breaths became shorter as my eyes slowly focused on the house across the street; Her curtains were open but she, nor anyone for that matter, were to be seen.

After another small rush of guilt, I changed into dark grey jeans and a black shirt and headed downstairs and into the lounge to find it empty. Hearing the sound of clanking in the kitchen, I briskly walked through the den and into the dining room to see Mom huddled over the stove, sliding scrambled eggs from a frying pan and onto two plates.

"Good morning Jacob!" she beamed out with a cheerily.

"Morning mum, how are you feeling?" I asked hopeful.

"Feeling good this morning, thanks for asking..." she replied as she walked over to the table and placed the plates down gently "I've cooked you breakfast... did you want to join me?"

"Thanks Mom, yeah I'm starving, thanks for making breakfast." I replied pulling a chair from under the table and sitting down.

"So..., tell me Jacob, are you going to bike or walk to school with...?" Mom asked squinting at me and trailing off, waiting for me to fill in the last of her sentence.

" _Jill…_ " I said unnecessarily defensively "…Mom, her name's Jill, and she _asked me_ to walk with her to school. I'm definitely not going to turn that down... I don't have many friends as it is... "

"Oh Jacob, Jacob, Jacob..." Mom interrupted abruptly, brushing off my sudden bout of attitude "I'm sure you've got plenty of friends at school... don't you?"

"Mom, please don't" I said vexed as I looked down at my plate feeling somewhat ashamed.

Mom reached across the table and gently stroked my cheek with her weathered palm, a deep concerning frown strewn across her weary face.

"My dear Jacob...," she pleaded.

"What is it now Mom?" I replied, quickly pulling my face away from her hand.

"Well, you just..." She struggled, hesitating as her eyes welled up "You remind me of your father; before he... before...err"

"...before he passed away in a car accident when you were pregnant with me" I hastily finished her sentence with a little anger in my tone. "I'm sorry Mum but I know the story and you always get upset when you talk about him, so please, just don't!"

"Jacob, please" Mom pleaded as she began sobbing, her emotions exaggerated by her worsening health.

Feeling sorry for her, I slackened "Alright mum, tell me the story... again."

"Well, okay, I was in Paris for a work conference and I stayed with a friend from school that I hadn't seen for ages..." she started, escapism forming on her face "One night she took me out to a restaurant, Libra, a block down from the Eiffel Tower. We had so much fun talking for hours and hours about our memories from growing up together but after she had a few too many wines we caught a taxi home. When we got back, I tucked her in bed and went to bed myself – but I couldn't sleep. I decided to get a breath of fresh air so I headed outside. Before long, I had walked to the Seine, the main river that goes through Paris, and I just stood there on the sidewalk staring at the reflection of the city lights rippling in the water. I remember it was so magical, so hypnotizing."

"Go on..." I sighed impatiently.

"Anyway, after an hour or so, I wasn't keeping track of time, a group of drunken men approached me and starting saying things in French that I didn't quite understand but their rude gestures were unmistakable. I started to feel very uncomfortable and a little scared, especially being in a foreign country. At short time later, thank god, another stranger walked into the middle of the group of vile men and _whispered_ to them. Of course I didn't hear what he said, and I wouldn't have understood it anyway, but whatever he said, it made the group stop harassing me and they went on their way without any fuss. But the stranger – was still there, looking at me strangely, but in a comforting sort of way. Dumbstruck, I remember the first time I looked at him standing there, under the street lamp in his full length black coat, full of poise and confidence..."

"Nothing like me at all" I interrupted suddenly.

"Well...," Mom hesitated, "Maybe not, but I see him every time I look at you. I fell in love with him instantly. He insisted that he walk me home, to keep me safe, and so he did. At first I was a little hesitant of course, being a stranger and all that, but we talked the entire way home and then I offered him to come inside for coffee – which Jacob, is definitely not something I would normally do, but with this man I felt totally safe and assured; I felt as though I'd known him for years – I know what you're thinking Jacob, it sounds cliche and stupid right? Well anyway, he was the perfect gentleman to me. We met up a few consecutive nights before my trip was over. I truly felt we had a spiritual connection... and so, on the last night of my trip we met up for what felt like the last time and he took me up to his penthouse apartment and that's where we conceived you..."

"Gross Mom, thanks for the mental image." I replied disgusted, pulling a sour face "Can we _please_ hurry this along?"

"Yes, yes, anyway, and after that we kept in contact via phone, and that's when one day, when I had finally plucked up enough courage to call him about the news of my pregnancy, a friend of his answered his phone, with the – err, news of his accident." Mom's face dropped sharply as her eyes glistened with tears that started to stream slowly down her gaunt cheek bones. "I dropped my phone and fell to my knees; I was devastated. I hardly slept, and when I did, my dreams were about him, longing for him. I barely ate, everything had lost its appeal, and I had lost my appetite. I was on top of the world, setting up our hopeful future together when I was with him, now I was the absolute lowest, completely heartbroken. I still love him and long for him. And I know he's not coming back but at least I do have you...my sweet son..." Mom stared at the wall, her memories continued to play in her mind.

"That's okay Mom." I said sympathetically "Thanks for the chat. I'd better get ready for school, thanks for breakfast."

Tears were forming on behind my eyes and needed to leave before Mom noticed...

* * *

Walking out the front door feeling emotionally drained from the breakfast conversation, I was hit with harsh beams of light that filtered through the tree tops. The rain had eased off overnight, and the sky was now slightly overcast. Casually I jogged with my backpack across the street to Jill's house, trying to ignore my worries about whether someone other than Jill was going to answer the door, and if so, what would I say?

I gave a feeble swing of the brass knocker and waited anxiously.


	10. Chapter 10 - Realization

**Chapter 10 - Realization**

* * *

I waited, but there was no reply.

Knocking again but harder then before, I shifted uneasily on my feet.

Peering through the side window, I couldn't see any movement.

After a short while, I started to feel rather awkward - My Mom is probably watching me from across the street... How embarrassing.

I glanced at my watch. _"Shit, I have to go"_

With my heart sunk deep into my chest with the dashed hope, I turned towards the street and briskly walked to school, trying to make up the lost time.

 _I really thought today was going to be different... better. Why hadn't Jill been home?_

* * *

I was just in time through the school doors and into my first class before the bell rang. Miss Lewis was writing numbers on the black board as I managed to sneak in and take a seat at the front of the class.

"Nice of you to join us, Jacob." Miss. Lewis said, still facing the black board, her messy tight curled brown hair facing the students.

"Morning Miss." I hastily replied, quietly.

Turning my head, I surveyed the class hoping to spot someone. Andy caught my attention and nodded at me – I nodded back and felt glad he was at school today, but I hadn't seen who I had been _really_ hoping to see, Jill - knowing my luck, she's probably not in any of my classes anyway. Turning back to the front of the class, I was met with Miss Lewis's eyes staring firmly at me.

"Are we ready to start yet, Jacob"? She said raising her eyebrows impatiently, small lines formed around her eyes – a sign of her approaching forty years of age. Her hooked nose supported a pair of round brown glasses that made her brown eyes seem bigger, more menacing than they actually were.

"Sorry, yes, I'm ready" I replied awkwardly, a little embarrassed.

"Everyone, today we are going to learn calculus." Miss. Lewis spoke autonomously, breaking her stare from me.

The class gave out a small sigh of dispirit.

"Please turn to page 313 of your 'Maths for freshman' text book. There will be a spot test at the end of the class so please pay attention. This test will go onto your records and is part of your final score, so I will reiterate - please pay attention."

 _I wondered if Jill was at school today... God I hope so. I can't wait to see her again – please God, please let her be at school today... I just want to see her stunning beauty even if it's just for the shortest of glances..._

* * *

The last quarter of the maths lesson arrived all too soon.

"Alright people, books away." Miss Lewis said as she walked between the desks handing out a piece of paper with numbers strewn on it. "Spot test time, I hope you were all paying attention."

Nothing over the past hour had sunk in properly as I couldn't stop thinking about Jill.

"Thanks." I said looking at the equations on the spot test.

 _Shit... I don't remember doing these._

"You have fifteen minutes to complete the test!" Miss Lewis said with a raised voice.

 _Shit... shit... shit..._

Looking at the test that sat on my desk, it suddenly occurred to me that all that _really_ mattered was Jill.

* * *

The lunch bell rung and the students flocked to the cafeteria in droves. Andy and I had met each other in the line of fellow pupils waiting to have their servings of lunch.

Like animals in a pen being fed by the farmer.

"So Jacob, tell me" Andy said curiously.

"Tell you what? What are you talking about?" I replied rapidly, a look of bewilderment sprung up on my face.

"You're definitely guilty of being happier today, but Jacob... the question is why? You're never happy, in fact you're the saddest person I know... But I'm going to guess, I'd say it was a girl. Am I right? Huh? Huh? Am I right?"

"Whatever man!" I shot back struggling to suppress the corners of my mouth from rising into a big smile. Unable to continue eye contact with Andy, I stared at the floor, at the walls and the ceiling of the cafeteria, grasping to find another subject, anything, to talk about.

"Come on man, what's her name? Who is she?" Andy persisted.

Resuming eye contact with Andy, I folded, indulging in this little secret of mine.

"Okay fine. Her name is Jill and I met her yesterday, in the principal's office."

"Whoa, hold on, you were in the principal's office?" A stunned expression fell on Andy's face. "And what, you met her there?"

"Had you been in science class yesterday you would have known what happened, but you bailed on me."

"I was sick bro" Andy replied, fake coughing into his fist.

"I went to detention because Mr. Henry thought I was disruptive when all I did was let out a sigh…" I emphasized poking Andy in his bony shoulder "… because you weren't there."

"I've lost you man..." Andy said taking a step back "But, anyways, tell me about your new and only, ever, _girlfriend_." Andy teased.

"Andy, I'm going to sound like a mental case, and it's embarrassing to try to explain, and you're not going to understand, hell I don't understand myself…" I trailed off.

Grabbing my shoulders, Andy lowered himself to my height.

"Its okay man, I'm here for you..." he said, his voice now sounding serious with a hint of sarcasm hiding behind it.

I felt a sudden stabbing poke in my back. Turning around, I was startled to see a female student staring at me with hungry, angry eyes.

"Can you guys hurry up and get your lunch? I'm really hungry – otherwise get out of the line." The girl said overly bitchy, resting her left hand on her hip.

"Sorry Sophia." Andy replied artificially, turning to collect his lunch tray and walking off; I followed close behind and we sat down at a round black table in the shady corner of the cafeteria that was in an area that was disjointed from the rest of the tables, away from the other students.

I stared out through the full length windows that covered one entire wall of the cafeteria; the midday light flooded through the huge panes, illuminating the room in a natural light. 100 yards from window, large trees from the end of the forest that bordered the school stood tall and proud; Between the large trunks of these trees, shadows consumed the space between them making them appear eerily dark against the otherwise sunny day.

 _It's always night time in the forest._

Andy poked his fork into the macaroni disappointingly, "So what were you were saying before that bitch interrupted us…?"

"It was the weirdest thing, I swear to you... When I walked into Mrs. Aiken's office I saw a girl sitting in front of the principal's desk. She's a new student – Jill, her name is Jill." I rambled on. "And when I looked at her, the room sort of expanded out into blackness. I could see her still sitting in the chair, not moving. And there was a beam of light that was shining through her. It sounds really crazy and dumb… And no Andy, I'm not tripping on anything..." I let out a long breath and took a sip of my juice, looking eagerly at my friend for his reaction.

Andy took a deep breath.

"Let me think," he paused, his fingers stroked his chin as he stared out into the woods.

Turning his head back and clicking his fingers, he looked at me with excitement erupting in his eyes.

"I know what this is Jake, its simple... _You're in love_."


	11. Chapter 11 - Midnight Vehicle

**Chapter 11 – Midnight Vehicle**

* * *

The next few days went by agonizingly slow. I glanced out my bedroom window and over the street yet again, and sighed. It felt like an eternity since I'd seen Jill and although I checked far more often than I should have, there was no sign of her around her house, and I hadn't seen her at school either. It was hard to picture her face clearly now, if only I had a photo to remember her by in all her exquisite beauty. It felt like my memories of her were gradually fading away.

To help pass the time of my bleak existence and to get my mind off Jill, I started writing some lyrics for a song - I figured that this could be a healthy outlet for me and my miserable frame of mind. Looking back over the words that I had messily scribbled on an A4 notepad, I realized how depressed I really was. Heavy metal blasted out defiantly from my stereo speakers and I momentarily heard the vocalist sing about a troubled relationship break up.

Mom had been feeling better in the last few days; at least I have that to be grateful for. She had cooked dinner tonight and had made one of my favorites – lasagna, in an attempt to cheer me up from my slump.

The street lamps clicked on as the sun's light faded over the trees and behind the horizon. I stood up from the desk and made my way down stairs into the living room where my Mom sat watching the news. Grabbing a blanket and sitting down next to her, she put her arm around me and smiled. I didn't know how much time I would have left with her, so I tried to appreciate these little special moments.

The news played on the television and as usual, most of it was negative.

"Another horrific car bombing in the Middle East killed 46 people this morning and ISIL claims responsibility." The female news reported stated from behind her over-sized desk as the wall of screens behind her showed the footage of the bombing, "most victims were women and children from a play ground that the car was parked beside."

"Why are some people so evil?" I asked my Mom.

"It's really unfortunate Jacob, but the reality is that most of these people that are evil, terrorist and murderers for example, _don't actually believe they are evil_. They think that _we_ are the bad ones, because we don't share the same beliefs or ideals as they do." Mom continued, "But the saddest part of it is the innocent people that get tied up in it and become the victims. We're still fairly primitive humans, some clearly more than others, and these acts of war show this."

"Maybe if everyone just came together, we might be able to fix things like war, poverty, and cancer..." I replied wishfully.

Mom looked at me with a strong worry in her eyes, "I'm sorry Jacob, even if there was a cure for me, it'd just be too late."

Deep silence fell upon the room as we reflected on our thoughts.

Loud laughter burst out of the television as the news finished and a sitcom started, snapping me out from my contemplation.

Having no interest in the comedy show on TV, I stood up off the couch and said, "Good night Mum, don't stay up too late."

"Good night Jacob" she replied yawning.

I walked into the dimly lit kitchen and drunk a glass of water; as I looked out of the window and into our small backyard I registered that it was pitch-black outside with the exception of a small handful of bright stars that managed to shine bright enough for their light to travel the billions of miles into my tiny, insignificant retinas.

 _How can we be all alone in the universe?_

I mused for a few moments before Mom suddenly broke out in laughter from the den, breaking my train of thought.

It's good to hear her laugh; it's so rare these days.

I dragged my feet up stairs and into the bathroom where I had a shower; The hot water scorched ever so slightly on my skin, but it felt good. Fearing a large power bill, I reluctantly turned the shower head off and dressed into my sleeping t-shirt and boxer shorts.

It was still quite early in the night (thanks to Mom being able to do some of the house work), but I had no reason to stay awake, so I sat on my bed and looked out of the window over to Jill's house, once more – still no signs of movement.

Drawing my curtains closed, I jumped under the sheets and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

Disorientation numbed my sensors as my slumber ended and I slowly awoke. My room was still dark, with the exception of a slither of light between the curtains from the street lamps outside. A low pitch gurgle rumbled from outside my window. Parting my curtains open, I noticed that I had left my window ajar. Casting my eyes across the street to the source of the sound, I observed a long, dark car that sat ominously with its engine running, next to Jill's house; A ghostly vapor misted out through the car exhausts, dancing its way up towards the tree tops above. With its midnight black paint and windows that were completely blacked out, it looked more like the _shadow_ of a car - it appeared to blend into the dark and misty night air, almost out of reach from the yellow tinged, diffused beams of light that shone halfheartedly from the street lamps.

One of the car doors started to open gradually. I spotted a leg dressed in black step out...

...Suddenly, a loud retching noise erupted from the room next to mine.

It must be Mom, vomiting from her sickness. I quickly headed for her room, picking up a small blue bucket from the bathroom on the way. Opening up her bedroom door, the sweet stench of sick struck my nostrils viciously. I gagged, but continued on, bucket in hand, to my mom who now lay feebly hunched over in bed. Running around the side, I slid the bucket underneath her face just in time to catch the next torrent of vomit that gushed out and into the bucket.

"I'm sorry Jacob" my mom thinly said catching a breath as she looked up at the large patch of vomit that soaked into the bed spread from her first retching just moments ago.

"That's okay Mom. I'll go and get you some water." I said softly, stroking her shoulder. I stood up and ran downstairs and into the kitchen, pouring water from the sink tap and into a sipper bottle. Wide awake now, I carried myself quickly up the stairs and back into my mother's room. Mom had lay back down on her pillow and was now softly snoring away. Somewhat relieved, I placed the drink bottle on her bedside table and collected the bucket that was half full of vomit and lugged it, at arm's length, to the toilet where it was flushed away. I retrieved a thick blanket from the hallway cupboard and went back into Mom's room. Pulling the vomit covered duvet carefully off her bed, I folded it up so it was safe to carry and placed the clean blanket over the bed and over my mum. The air in the room reeked so I reached over the bedside table and opened the window. Collecting the soiled duvet off the floor, I made my way back down the stairs and into the laundry where I washed the sick off the bedding and squashed it into the sink to soak overnight.

Exhausted, I made my way back up stairs to my room and remembered the strange car that had been outside. Using the last of my energy, I stumbled to the window and peered out, anxiety welled up inside me.

 _Was Jill finally home? Will I get to see her again?_

The car was still there.

Then, without warning, the sound of its V8 engine thundered as I caught a brief glimpse of the rear of the car as it sped hurriedly down the road - with none of its lights on.

The street lights momentarily surged in brightness before sparking and blowing out, descending the street into the black of the night.

 _That was definitely not Jill, it looked more like the Mafia or some sort of official._

My heart dropped into my stomach from disappointment - but a tiny glimmer of hope that Jill had returned, remained.


	12. Chapter 12 - Dodgeball

**Chapter 12 - Dodgeball**

* * *

I lay in bed unable to sleep as my mind raced with thoughts of the black car:

 _Who was inside? Why did they stop by Jill's house? Was it a coincidence that the street lights blew at the same time that the car took off?_

* * *

The birds outside started their morning songs just as I felt myself finally drifting off to sleep.

Then, much to my dismay, my alarm sounded, signalling me to get up for another day at school. I felt groggy as I turned the alarm off and got dressed, starting the day exhausted from the lack of sleep..

Opening up my mom's bedroom door silently, I peeked in and noticed that she was still peacefully sleeping, snoring lightly.

I lugged myself sleepily down to the kitchen, placed two slices of bread into the toaster and picked up the cordless phone that sat in its cradle on the kitchen bench. Turning the phone in my hand, I glanced at the digits under the label "Nurse – Alison" and dialed the number.

"Jackson Valley Hospital Healthcare Services, how may I direct your call?" spoke the female clearly through the earpiece.

"Nurse Alison please," I croaked into the bottom of the handset.

"Just one minute please..."

A monotonous beeping chimed through the little speaker.

"Good morning, Alison speaking," a friendly familiar voice spoke out through the phone.

"Hi Alison..., it's Jacob Chase."

"Is everything okay? How is your mother?"

"She was very sick last night," I said, pausing momentarily, "...um, can you please come and look after her today, while I'm at school?"

"Not a problem Jacob, I'll be over shortly."

"Thank you," I replied sighing with a little relief.

"Oh, and Jacob – thank you for looking after your mom last night, I know it's tough... I'll see you soon," Alison said before she ended the call; I could feel my eyes welling up with tears as I absorbed the nurse's words of encouragement and understanding.

The toaster popped with a sudden clang and I removed the slightly burnt toast and placed them onto my plate; spreading jam and peanut butter on them, I ate my breakfast, once again, alone.

* * *

After breakfast, I was in the middle of getting myself prepared for another shitty day at school when the door bell rang. Opening up the front door, a small wave of relief came over me. Standing a few steps back from the entrance and dressed in light blue hospital attire was Alison, the nurse who I called upon on the days that my mum was too sick to look after herself when I was at school. She raised her sunglasses up and onto the top of her headlifted her glasses up and onto her head.

"Hi Jacob," she said softly as she propped her sunglasses on top of her head, "Hope you're not too tired for school today."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired but I'll manage," I replied, my hand leaning heavily on the door knob.

Alison walked through the door with a large nurse bag over her shoulder. "Where is your Mom currently?" she asked placing her keys on the small table adjacent to the door.

"She's still asleep in her bed."

Alison smiled gently, "Okay Jacob, I've got it from here. Have a great day at school."

"Yeah, um, okay thanks, I'll see you just after three," I stammered as I walked out the front door and onto the sidewalk.

I always felt a little guilty whenever I couldn't look after my mom, like I was abandoning her... _but it also felt kind of good to be released from her burden._

Glancing over the street, Jill's house remained inert. I forcefully picked up my drowsy walking pace and headed to school for another day.

* * *

One of the morning classes today was Physical Education, my body protested with tiredness just at the thought. Having changed into my PE gear, which consisted of black shorts and a loose white t-shirt, I walked out into the large covered gymnasium with Andy flanked to my left.

"Listen up class!" Mr. Porter bellowed out at us students who stood in a messy group in front of him in the corner of the open-spaced building. "Today we have Mrs. Samuel's class joining with ours!"

A handful of students around me sighed quietly with dissatisfaction. I glanced over to the other class who stood sprawled out in the diagonally opposite corner; a few students some smiled menacingly back at my class, eager to pit their skill and strength against ours.

Mrs. Samuel's class was made up of higher achieving sports people (the grade A sports class of the seniors) and they were noticeably more physically tuned to sports then we were. But the worst part about this "grade A" class was the fact that Quentin, my nemesis if you will who pleasured himself in making my already depressive life even worse, was one of the students.

"And today folks, Mrs. Samuel and I have chosen to play our classes off against each other in a game of... Dodgeball!"

A taunting cheer erupted from Mrs. Samuel's class.

Peering over to the "elites", my gaze haplessly crossed with Quentin's; Stuck in a brief suspense, Quentin cocked a huge grin and slid his index finger menacingly across his throat as though he was slicing his neck with an imaginary knife. I gulped and turned back to Mr. Porter who was writing some notes on his clipboard.

"Right guys, let's get the game set up!" Mrs. Samuel shouted from across the court, her voice echoing throughout the large space.

* * *

With the red balls idle in the middle of the court, I nervously stood next to Andy awaiting my hurtful fate that was just moments away. Quentin stared threatening at me, ready to attack. Heart pounding in my chest, the whistle blew and almost everyone on both sides of the team ran up to the center of the court and snatched whatever balls they could grasp their hands on. Andy and I, along with a few other feeble students, remained at the rear of the court completely focused on trying not to get hit.

"We can't remain back here for much longer Jacob, soon we will be the only ones left!" Andy said in a small panic as the game progressed.

"What do you reckon we do?" I asked keeping my eyes fixed ahead of me; red balls flew at high speeds across the court non-stop, and I really did not fancy a strike to the side of the face from one of them.

"We should just go berserk! Get in there and see what happens!" Andy said energetically jumping up and down on the spot waving his arms loosely by his sides; Andy was pumping himself up and he looked like he about to enter a boxing match. "Well, are you in?"

"Okay, yeah, let's get this over with!" I said, piping up my near-desolate courage and getting into position, readying myself to run.

"Okay Jacob, ready in three, two, one – let's go!"

Energizing my legs with little available power, I ran towards the middle of the court and closed in on a stray ball. Andy lagged behind a few of steps and as I turned around readying to head back with the ball clutched in my sweaty palms, I saw Andy's expression suddenly drop with terror.

"Watch out!" he yelled as he pointed to the direction behind me, no doubt of an incoming ball.

Stumbling forward in a clumsy attempt to avoid being hit, a whoosh of cold air brushed dangerously close to my ear as I narrowly escaped a head-on collision with a ball.

"Thanks Andy!" I breathed thankfully as I collected myself and jogged past Andy towards the rear of our side of the court.

Andy suddenly launched his lanky thighs high into the air to evade a ball that bolted underneath him at speed; but on his descent, another ball, thrown by a smirking Quentin, was hurled forcibly towards Andy's feet, which were yet to be grounded from his evasion of the previous ball.

"Andy! Watch…." I started to shout but it was too late. The rapid momentum of the ball struck Andy's feet with such force that his body rotated slightly as he landed on the hard court floor, his foot slanted at an acute angle. He landed with a sickening thud on the ground; he shrieked out in pain, clutching at his ankle.

Both teachers ran over to him and knelt beside him. On the way to running to Andy, I looked over my shoulder to see Quentin giving his mates' high fives in a cruel celebration.

 _Why are some people so mean?_

Mr. Porter held his hand tenderly over Andy's ankle and cocked his head towards Mrs. Samuel. "I think it's broken. Can you please call the school nurse?"

"Yes, no problem," she replied, pulling a phone out from her short pocket and a walking a few steps back.

Andy looked at me, pain stricken across his face. "It was Quentin..."

"I know An..."

"It was an accident," Mr. Porter abruptly interrupted, cutting my sentence short.

Feeling helpless and guilty, I softly looked at Andy, gave a small smile and nodded. We both knew Quentin's attack was intentional. But it didn't matter as he would not be punished anyway, his father was the school's largest financial donor.

"The nurse has called for an ambulance, it will be here shortly," Mrs. Samuel said putting her phone back in her shorts pocket. "I will take both classes outside to run some laps."

"Thank you Trish, I'll stay here with Andy until the ambulance arrives," Mr. Porter replied.

"Okay kids listen up! Everyone outside and onto the field, we are going to run some laps," Mrs. Samuel shouted, motioning with her hand for everyone to leave the gym. "Jacob, can you please put away all the gear please?"

"Yes Miss," I replied, relieved that I wouldn't have to join the rest the class, especially Quentin, in jogging around the field.

The ambulance staff arrived half an hour later, pushing a stretcher though the gym doors. They knelt down beside Andy and Mr. Porter, and opened their medical bags. Quickly wrapping Andy's foot in bandages, they helped Andy up, who hopped briefly on one leg and guided him onto the stretcher. He lay down on the bed and turned his head sideways; giving me a small wave and a smile, he was pushed out through the gymnasium door and into the back of the waiting ambulance.

* * *

That afternoon after school, I arrived at home, completely exhausted.

"Hello?" I called as I walked through the door.

"Upstairs Jake," Alison called from the floor above.

I dropped my school bag on the ground and walked up stairs and into my mom's bedroom. Alison sat in a chair that was positioned next to the head of the bed. My mom still lay in bed, in the same spot that she was in this morning.

"How was school?" Mom said weakly.

"It was good," I lied.

"Your mom has been quite ill today... I've got to head off now, but I suggest taking it easy tonight. Okay Jake?" Alison said standing up wiping the sweat from my mom's forehead with a cloth.

"Okay, thanks for being here today," I replied weakly, wishing she would stay tonight too.

She walked past me and placed her reassuring hand on my shoulder, "You're one tough kid Jake, I'm really proud of you," she said before walking out the bedroom door; a moment later I heard the front door click shut.

Pulling out my phone, I texted Andy.

"Andy, how are you doing? How's your ankle?"

"Going good bro, doc confirmed broken ankle. My leg is in a cast and I won't be at school for a couple of weeks. How cool is that!"

"A couple of weeks?" I texted back worryingly.

"Yip, they are going to send my school work home to do though. Hey you can come around and sign my cast?"

"I wish I could man, but I'm stuck at home looking after my mum. She is not doing so well."

"Sorry to hear, hope she gets better soon."

"Thanks"

* * *

The evening was spent cooking, cleaning, laundry washing and reading my mom stories as we waded through her spells of nausea and vomiting before she finally fell asleep at one in the morning.

I had hoped for an early night tonight to catch up on last night's lack of sleep, but the universe thought it was too much for me to ask for.

I love my mom, but my life sucks.

* * *

The next day I called Alison again, as my mother was still going through an episode of sickness; she soon arrived and I headed for school, this time on my bike. Although I still hadn't found my bike lock, I had overslept this morning and was running grossly late; and besides, the hope of walking to school with Jill had dwindled away anyway. A fast ride to school would mean I had a chance of making it to on time and god knows I could use with some fresh air.

I parked my bike among a group of other bikes and hoped like hell it would still be there at the end of the day. Then I bolted inside though the school gates and into the main loft.

* * *

Science was my last class of the day and as usual I was a little bit early. I peered through the window of the class door and saw Mr Henry reading that mysterious book again. Fearing a repeat of what happened last time, I waited outside until I could walk in with other students. Mr. Henry lightly said, "Hello," to me as I walked past his desk and took a seat on the window side of the class. The last of the students took their seats just as the bell rang - No-one sat beside me.

"Listen up class!" Mr. Henry said with a raised voice as his pupils started pulling out their text books. "Yesterday we concluded our topic on Astronomy and today we are starting on Biology. Now there is going to be an experiment coming up that you will do in pairs..."

Andy would have been my partner for this but he is not at school, damn Quentin.

 _I wonder if Mr. Henry would allow me to do this assignment on my own?_

"You will have to choose what Biology related experiment you want to do. Ideas can be found on the internet... the more creative, the better... Such examples of experiments are..." Mr. Henry was interrupted by the class door being gently opened.

The entire class looked over towards the door to see what the interruption was about.

A girl stepped through the door way and into the classroom, smiling.

My heart pounded against my ribs as I realized who it was.

 _It was Jill._


	13. Chapter 13 - The Return of Jill

**Chapter 13 – THE RETURN OF JILL**

* * *

"Sorry I'm late, Sir" Jill said silkily to Mr Henry.

"That's alright Jill, it's your first day back so I'll, err, let it slide...," he replied giving her a short, stealthy wink. "Please, find a seat."

"Okay..."

Jill walked slowly towards the front of the teacher's desk, her eyes surveyed the class with sense of buoyancy and confidence.

I took my eyes off her for a moment and glanced around - the entire class was staring at her yet she remained fully confident and poised.

Cocking my head back to the front of the class, I realized that the only vacant seat in the room was the one _next to me!_

Jill walked casually between the desks heading towards the back of the class, having spotted where she was going to sit.

Looking away nervously out the window, I heard the chair next to me scrap on the floor as though nails were scratching a blackboard.

"Hi Jacob, nice to see you again." Jill said from my right, close by; I turned to see her smiling softly at me, almost as though she was a little shy - and this put me on the verge of feeling at ease...

"Hi, a – again..." I stammered, momentarily failing to remember to breathe. A hint of her sweet refreshing and slightly earthy fragrance whisked deeply into my senses as she pulled out a large text book from her bag and placed it on the desk in front of her.

"Jacob! Attention please!" Mr. Henry suddenly shouted abruptly, breaking my enthralled stare from Jill's beautifully flawless skin texture; I hadn't realized that I had been awkwardly gawking at her, all the while the entire class looked at me with great amusement painted on their faces.

"Sorry Sir" I apologetically said to the teacher who had paused his class until he had my full attention.

"Okay class, as I was saying before, you have a Biology experiment coming up. You have to do this in pairs and I would suggest that for homework tonight, you start researching with your peers what you would like to do." Mr. Henry walked around the class between the desks handing out the assignment brief. He handed Jill and I the piece of paper and said in a hushed mocking tone, "You two should partner up..."

 _How very inappropriate of a teacher._

Jill turned to me, "Would you like to be my partner, err, partner?" she whispered comically with a smile.

"Sounds, fantasico." I replied a little too excited, shying away from Jill and returning my look to the front of the class.

 _I couldn't believe my sudden turn of luck! This is good timing from Jill... I wonder why she is suddenly back now after all those days away?_

* * *

The school bell finally rung and I waited until everyone left the classroom before I stood up. To my surprise, Jill had also waited, pretending to be busy stuffing her bag with her books.

"Walking home today?" she asked standing up and stretching her arms towards the ceiling.

"Not today... I rode my bike in this morning... but I'll walk with you..." I replied as I squeezed out from behind the desk.

We walked towards the front of the class, heading for the exit. Mr Henry hadn't seemed to notice that we were still in the room.; He had pulled out the mysterious ancient-looking book from his locked drawer and was arched over it, studying it intensely making hushed um's and ah's.

"That book..." Jill started hastily as she turned to look at me, her face lit with a curiosity.

"I wouldn't ask about it," I hushed shortly, for her protection. "He's very touchy about it..."

"Oh, okay." she quietly replied nodding trustingly as a slightly perplexed look formed on her brow.

" _But how can that be?_ " Mr. Henry suddenly muttered under his breath, bemused, still unaware that two of his students remained in the class.

We walked silently past 's desk and towards the exit. Turning back on our way out, I glanced once more at the heavily occupied Mr. Henry and daringly said, "See you later, sir."

Peering up at us, Mr. Henry unexpectedly smiled and said with a soft, trance-like tone, "Oh, yes, good night to you both."

* * *

Outside, through the large school entrance doors, it all of a sudden dawned on me that there was a chance that my bike, which hadn't been locked up, would have been stolen.

"What's wrong Jacob?" Jill asked, reading the sudden worry on my face.

"Um, we'll find out in a sec." I replied picking up my pace towards the bike rack.

Steaming through the school's entrance gates and peering over towards the bike rack, my heart suddenly dropped deep into my stomach – there were no bikes left on the rack, not a single one.

"What the fuck?" I cursed, my mind spinning slowly with disbelief and disappointment.

"Oh I see...your bike...it's gone...I'm sorry Jacob," Jill said sympathetically placing her warm hand on my shoulder, "It'd be alright, let me walk you home."

After taking a second look at the bike racks that were now behind me (in bleak hope that the bike had magically returned), I plodded dishearteningly towards home with Jill walking airily next to me. We soon past Mrs. Weatherley's place where Jill waved to Mrs. Weatherley through the front bay window.

Dragging the heels of my shoes on the ground, I pushed aside my sweeping anger towards thieves and I tried to focus on the fact that I was walking home with Jill...

"Hey Jill?"

"Yeah Jake?" she replied cutely.

"I don't mean to sound like a creep but I was just like, wondering why you haven't been at school for the last week?" I said as I kicked a stone on the foot path and anxiously waited for her reply.

"Um yeah sure...I guess that makes sense, I mean I was only really there the first day, where I saw you in the principal's office, and then I kind of – disappeared. But anyway so yeah, my Nan passed away."

"Oh," I replied softly giving her a little toothless smile of empathy, "I'm really sorry."

"She lives... I mean, err, lived in Michigan so it took us a while to get there... so we stayed for the week to make the most of things."

"Makes sense," I replied glancing at her, realizing that my missing bike wasn't that huge of a deal in the whole scheme of things.

"It was actually a really good visit...that sounds weird I know. So, we got there a couple of days before she err...passed away. She was really old and had had a full life... she was in a really happy space," Jill paused, taking a deep breath, "The night before she died, she called me in to her room and we had a really good talk. She told me that she believed that we never truly die, but simply get displaced to another part of the universe. She believed that we're all a part of the universe and that when we die, we're still a part of the universe, but we become a different form of some kind. She um, could be a little 'alternative' from time to time."

"That's a cool way to look at things." I replied understandingly looking up at the light grey clouds that thankfully blocked the sun's ray.

Having just arrived at Jill's front yard, the thought of the science experiment popped into my head.

"Hey Jill, about that science experiment..."

"Yeah..." she replied turning to me.

"Should we... meet up, um, later on?" I stuttered, momentarily glanced down at my shoes, too timid to make eye contact with her as she pondered my proposition.

"Okay that sounds like a plan, your house or mine?" Jill replied lightly.

I hesitated; my sick mom suddenly swamped my thoughts; I didn't want Jill to know about my struggling family, not just yet. "So...yours I was thinking maybe?"

"Okay, I guess that could work. And maybe depending on what experiment we do, we could also go to yours?" Jill pushed back.

I worried that if she found out about my mom and my sad life surrounding her sickness, she might bail on me; After all, my life was one huge empty burden.

"Jacob, actually, I'm not sure if tonight's going to work, we're still kind of unpacking from our week away and things are a bit havoc at the moment."

"Sorry, yes of course." I replied weakly, trying to mask my disappointment.

 _I really wanted to see her again, tonight if possible._

"But maybe we should like...exchange numbers?" She asked reaching around and pulling out her phone from the rear pocket in her jeans, "Then I can text you when it's a good time to pop over."

"Good plan!" I agreed, too hastily.

I nervously scrambled for my phone and pulled it out of my pants pocket too quickly and it fumbled out of my hand and fell, luckily, onto the grass. I sighed in relief but felt my head getting hot from embarrassment. Awkwardly bending down, I picked up the phone off the freshly mowed grass and looked up; My gaze unexpectedly met with Jill's, her stunning blue eyes only a few inches from mine. I hadn't realized that she had also kindly tried to pick my phone up. A moment of vastness and infinitesimal time simultaneously passed as the world perceptibly dissolved into a peaceful emptiness that encased only the two of us.

The sound of a car horn abruptly tooted nearby, and a cat scampered off meowing past us as the outside world came flooding back to my senses. We stood up and gazed away from each other a little awkwardly and unsure of what to say or what to do next.

Breaking the uncomfortable moment of silence, I plucked up a rare courage, looked at Jill and cleared my throat.

"So what was your number again?" I croaked dryly.

"Oh yeah, so it's six, one, four,"

"Yip."

"five, three, six,"

"Yip."

"two, two, three, nine."

"Yip, cool."

"And...Jacob yours is?" She asked pitching her voice a little higher than normal.

"Five, three, six,"

"Okay,"

"seven, three, seven,"

"Uh, huh."

"five, six, six, nine." I replied putting my phone back into my pocket, taking short glances at Jill as she tapped the numbers onto her phone's screen.

"Okay sweet, I guess I'll call you later maybe?"

"Jill! Jill! Please come inside now!" A woman's voice called from inside Jill's home.

Peering through the front window of Jill's house, I noticed a middle aged woman walking around a corner and out of sight."

"Oh, sorry Jacob, that's my mom calling me, I'd better go; she probably has some chores for me to do, like unpacking. I'll call you later, okay Jake?"

But before I could reply, she happily twirled around, jogged up the front path and opened the front door; she glanced back at me and smiled warmly for just a split second before disappearing behind the door as it closed.


	14. Chapter 14 - The Devil Arrives

**Chapter 14 - The Devil Arrives**

* * *

 **Somewhere in Syria - 2013**

* * *

"Ameera... Ameera wake up..." I heard Papa speak with an unusual urgency while he jabbed my shoulder, rocking me on the creaky, fragile wooden bed.

"What is it?" I groaned stretching my legs out against the rough itchy blanket and rubbing my eyes open.

"We have to go...quickly... _they_ are coming..." Papa replied, rapidly glancing out towards the paint-flaked entrance door where my uncle was waving his arm in a hurried motion.

Mama peered out at me from behind Papa, holding a worn grey fabric satchel bag over her shoulder that I knew contained only a handful of items to be used only in an emergency; My little sister was in her other arm clutching her tightly with her head buried deep in her other shoulder.

A loud engine rumbled outside the room's cracked and faded turquoise wall. I sat up on the bed and looked out the window dazedly; with my eyes squinting through the bright morning light, I saw the side of a dusty white truck that was waiting, presumably for us.

"Come on Ameera get up... ...we need to go, _now_!" Papa urged in an increased panic grabbing my wrist and sternly pulling me up off the bed, surging me out from my morning haze.

A distant clapping echoed eerily through the room and I recognized it instantly as gunfire, somewhere from outside.

 _Stay calm Ameera..., we have planned for this_ , I thought as I tried to starve off the panic that was growing inside me.

Papa had told us only a few weeks ago that our village had become a strategic location for the terrorists and that there was a high chance they would come and take it over; Papa reassured us he had prearranged transport out of the village on one of his friend's trucks, along with an escape route, if the occasion was to ever arise.

"They're coming! They're coming! Sorry! I cannot wait any longer!" a man abruptly shouted from outside as the truck's engine revved loudly and clicked into gear.

"Wait... _Wait!_ " Uncle yelled suddenly has he bolted through the door and headed outside after the truck.

I ran to the window and witnessed the vehicle taking off quickly, kicking up a bloom of sand behind it as it gathered speed. Uncle sprinted through the dust cloud behind the truck flapping his arms wildly sputtering "STOP STOP!" as he trailed close to the rear of the truck. Almost out of sight, Uncle's shadowy figure managed to climb onto the rear tray of the vehicle; the truck, along with Uncle on the back, soon disappeared completely from view down the hill only leaving the wake of its trail of dust.

"No…No…No…No!" Papa cursed, falling to his knees, and burying his face into the palms of his hands in disbelief, sobbing. "He promised he would wait for us not matter how close they came!"

"It's alright…it's alright shh... shh.. now little one." Mama hushed as she rocked my little sister in her arms in attempt to calm her down.

I knelt down beside Papa and put my arm around him; Sweet had soaked through the back of his shirt.

"Sorry Papa... ...we'll be okay..." I said softly but full of doubt.

He looked up from the palms of his hands and turned slowly towards me; Drops of sweat beaded down his forehead and a look of sheer terror shrewd across his face - a look I'd never seen before and hoped to never see again. " _We need to leave now, we need to try..._ " he hushed to me, his facial expression quickly changing with a renewed sense of determination. "Come on! Let's go! Let's go! Out! Out! Out!"

Papa abruptly shot to his feet.

Trailing on Papa's heels, I followed him as he ushered out Mama and Little Sister through the door and outside onto the dusty road. The dust cloud from the abandoning truck had almost dissipated completely and was now only a slight shimmering haze in the distance.

Papa, with his back turned to me, gazed down one side of the sprawling hill on which the little cluster of brick and mud houses sat. He appeared to be frozen still.

I took a few steps in his direction and stood beside him where I too froze, from the dismaying reality that loomed before us; a lengthy dust cloud in the shape of a snake that partially blocked out the low morning sun at the bottom of the hill, spread across the flat barren planes, only moments away from crossing paths with me and my beloved family.

A lengthy motorcade was approaching us and leading it was what appeared to be some sort of tank - it appeared as though it was the head of the snaky dust cloud. Behind the behemoth military vehicle at the front, was a line of dusty off-white smaller trucks, their rear trays were full with men dressed in stark black that contrasted among the clay colored dust. A tiny ray of sparks briefly glistened from the back of one the front trucks and less than a second later, a short intense clap of gunfire reverberated throughout the area, startling me and Papa.

"Let's go Ameera!" Papa urged as he spun around, grabbing me by my sleeve and pulling me back towards Mama and Little Sister. We all scurried down the other side of the hill and past the other village houses, all of which appeared to have already been abandoned hastily, only a short time ago. Mama and Little Sister lagged behind me while Papa stormed ahead, constantly darting his head from left to right looking around for something. "Over here!" he shouted back at us frantically waving his hands before disappearing behind a clay stone building at the bottom of the hill and to the left.

Having reached the bottom of the hill, my lungs burned in a sharp pulsating stitch in the side of my abdomen as I panted; wiping the sweat off my forehead I tried in vain to catch my breath.

A dusty, derelict looking car sat in the shade of the building and Papa was in the driver's seat rocking frantically. The car pulsated with a high pitch grinding sound as it struggled to start, spluttering now and then.

"Come on, come on, come on..." Papa begged as he desperately tried to start the car.

I stood next to the car, not knowing what to do.

About half a minute later, Mama had finally caught up and she handed Little Sister to me.; Her four year old body felt more taxing on my weary arms then I could remember.

"The car!" Mama panted, "Is it going to start?"

"God I hope so!" I replied gloomily, tears welling up my eyes.

Surprisingly, the car's engine suddenly spluttered into life; It sounded sickly, but at least it was running.

"Get in! Hurry!" Papa shouted, leaning out of the window.

Mama ran ahead of me to the car and pulled hard on the rear door handle. The door creaked opened and Mama jumped inside thrusting her hands out to me. "Quickly!" she said in a controlled, calming voice as I stooped forward handing little sister to her and shutting the stiff door with great difficulty. I unwillingly floundered around the rear of the car slipping on the loose gravel and saw Papa lean over and forcibly open the other front door for me. "Hurry Ameera! Get in!"

The drone of the motorcade's engines became more noticeable now as we took off in the car; Papa hadn't waited for me to close the door before he stepped on the accelerator and headed for our miraculous escape.

Only meters from the village I glanced back but I couldn't see out through the thick layer of dust that coated the rear window. The car unexpectedly started juddering and jerking, heaving me back and forth uncomfortably in the ripped seat.

"No! No! ...please no!" Papa pleaded as the car's engine completely lost power. A high pitch hissing became louder as wisps of vapor started escaping up from the gaps around the car's hood. We rolled to a heart wrenching stop, having only traveled mere meters.

The dissonance of the hissing steam and the low grumble of scores of motors shuddered gravely throughout every hair on my body as the motorcade drew nearer and nearer.

"Papa, what should we do?" I asked desperately holding back the urge to get out of the car and run.

"I...I...I..." Papa stammered staring off blankly ahead of himself, "...I don't know...I don't..."

 _Papa had locked up, he knew we were trapped and all we could do was to wait._

Hissing from the car's engine was all too soon drowned out by the whining drone of the lead vehicle which now felt very near.

The reverberating engines started randomly shutting down casting us into an eerie silence while we tucked ourselves into the dirty foot wells of the car in a last, feeble attempt to hide. Car doors creaked open from behind us and I could just hear muffled voices through the body of the car that harbored us, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Without warning, a shattering crack ripped though the car. Stunned, I tilted my head sideways looking up from my crouched position to see that a bullet had gone through the rear window of the car and that the glass was now severely cracked and falling apart in pieces over the rear seat.

Mama shrieked loudly from despair having only been inches from the bullet's deadly path. She looked at me with terror-filled eyes as she struggled to burrow herself further down.

Taunting laughter erupted suddenly from all around us.

"We have you surrounded! There is nowhere to escape, and nowhere to run..." spoke a blaring, commanding voice from the rearwards of the car, "You have no more options left but to come out."

Quivering in panic, I glanced at Papa; He shook his head from side to side slowly, his face strewn with anguish and defeat.

"I know you're hiding in there... ...and I'm getting impatient!" the voice from outside teased in a ridiculed tone.

"We're armed and we will shoot you if you come closer!" Papa suddenly shouted out debilitated, lying unconvincingly.

Faint chuckles of laughter simmered beyond the car's metal panels, before they abruptly stopped. Then there was only silence; a moment of dreadful, dire stillness.

"GET... OUT... OF... THE... CAR!" A man's head wrapped in a black shroud had poked through one of the windows shouting insanely, "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Before having a chance to react, the car doors were forcefully torn open. A hand tightly gripped a chunk of my shirt pulling me with such force it tore my shirt down one side and tossed me a meter from the car.

Thrashing my feet and arms around I was pulled roughly by my shirt collar that burned and chocked at my throat, while my heels dragged painfully on the rocky ground. Papa and Mama were also forcibly removed from the car, each with two black clad thugs clamping both their arms, effectively disabling them from their abilities to rebel. Little Sister did not revolt against our captors; she was picked up from the rear seat of the car and carried out without any commotion at all.

We weren't dragged far, only yards from where we had broken down, between the derelict car and the long line of the terrorist's convey that continued up over the hill and between the houses of the village.

Towering above her, Little Sister stood helplessly between the legs of a small group of armed men who faced us and who were all covered from head to toe in a thin black fabric that wavered in the subtle sideways breeze, ammunition belts slung over their shoulders and large black guns propped up in their hands, barrels facing skyward.

One terrorist stood out boldly. He too also wore black, but his garment was a thick, lengthy, trench coat which held rigid against the light breeze. He stood at least a foot taller than his flanking men and his head and face were covered by a leathery cowl - only his beady eyes were exposed. Unlike the other men however, he appeared oddly unarmed.

Papa, Mama and I slumped unwillingly on our knees, forced down by the men that held us imprisoned in their strong grips.

"What do you want with us?" Mama cried out in a mixture of bemoaning and discontent.

"We all want something...don't we?" the tall figure in the thick black coat said cryptically, "The world is full of people clambering on other people reaching for their wants, their eager desires, while efficaciously crushing the reveries of the souls they tramp on below," he walked with a slight glide towards us stopping a foot in front, his tall stature's shadow engulfing us in his dusk, "The man who took off in the truck left you all behind... ...he wanted to save his own life, and so he sacrificed yours...and now here you are, kneeling before me..."

My heart pounded heavily in my croaky throat and as I was about to shout out in anger and disgust, Papa exploded into a torrent of insults aimed at the tall man in black who stood powerfully arched over us, "You're an evil prick! Shit trash of the earth... ...scumbag! But worst of all - you're a coward! I mean look at us! We have no weapons, no way to defend ourselves! You all are nothing but chicken shit cowards!" Papa hoicked a spit at the man, but it missed as the tall man clad in black glided sideways and swung his hand, open fist, towards me, his palm collided heavily with my cheek bone; an excruciating stinging pain flowed through the side of my face, my head whipped violently to one side, sending a searing pain down my neck - It felt as though the skin down one side of my neck burned with the sensation of having been stretched.

Looking through newly formed black spots, and a blurry vision, I wearily peered up at the terrorist who was now brandishing a couple of shimmering metallic objects in his hands and was waving them in front of himself, pointing them dangerously at Papa. "You wanted to insult me, yes, but it came at a price, didn't it? You fulfilled your desire to express your hatred towards me, but in doing so you hurt your precious daughter... action, reaction you see?"

Spinning the knives between his fingers, the terrorist leader lowered down, equalizing to our kneeling height, and then Papa spoke in a perilously coarse tone, "No...! _You_ hurt my daughter...because... because... you're a _coward!_ A sick, twisted coward!"

"I think I'm finished playing, but I'll barter with you anyhow... Let's see..." the terrorist's tone suddenly dropped in enthusiasm, "...yes I know, half of your family can live, but you have to decide who that is going to be and I'm getting rather impatient, so you'll have to decide in three seconds."

"Three..."

"Two..."

"One..."

"Wait...!" Papa suddenly interrupted muttering under his breath as he looked towards the ground. ".. _.just me_..."

Lifting Papa's chin with the tip of one of the knives, the terrorist leader smiled. "Speak up, _Daddy..._ "

".. _.just...me…I beg of you_." Papa replied, sobbing.

The man clad in black moved the knives in front of Papa's and Mama's chests, resting the threatening tip of the blade just in front of their hearts. Mama gave a glance of prayer at me and Little Sister before slowing closing her eyes, and Papa continued to weep.

"Hmm..., yes..." the terrorist leader stirred and as his smile widened, he pushed the knives _slowly and deeply_ into Mama and Papa's chests, sinking the entire blade into their bodies. " _I will have your two daughters then..._ "

Mama's chest heaved, desperately rasping for air as blood trickled from the side of her mouth; her spirit dwindled from within her eyes while Papa's head slumped forwards, his shirt drenched in a steady stream of blood that started pooling on the dusty ground around him.

Paralysis froze over me as I witnessed our horrific situation unfold.

 _"No! Mama! Papa!"_ I cried out hopelessly but the screams never left my lips - I thrashed out fiercely but my body never moved.

A short moment later, my parent's bodies braided with each other as they lay motionless on the sandy earth, their soulless eyes remained open staring emptily at each other. My Mama and Papa, the two people in my life that had raised me, taught me, loved me... ...were gone.

"Put these girls in the back of the black truck!" Instructed the lead terrorist as he stood up and walked off towards the over-sized tank, "...And tie the parents to the back..."

I was harshly pulled up by the collar again and struggled to remain balanced on my feet. Disorientated, my head pounded excruciatingly as I stumbled towards the black SUV, being held up by a terrorist that reeked of sweat and cigarette smoke.

Little Sister was ahead of me, walking willingly next to the soldiers. She hopped into the boot of the SUV then glanced back at me with an unusually haunting black stare, it was as if her mind hadn't been able to process the death of our Mama and Papa.

It was pointless to resist the terrorist that escorted me; I was weakened, barely able to hold my own weight... Defeated and despondent, I joined my sister in the back of the SUV, and waited, hugging her into my bruised arms that offered little comfort.

A short moment later, I saw much to my horror and hatred, a few terrorists roughly pulling the corpses of my dead parents by their feet towards us; the corpses' arms flailed on the ground behind their heads. I sobbed helplessly as their feet were then bound with rope to the rear of the vehicle that we were in.

The SUV's engine sparked to life and as we started driving away from the village, the corpses of our dead parents dragged behind us, and as we picked up speed, I cupped my hand around sister's eyes to protect her from the grisly, repulsive sight of our parents bodies slowly disintegrating by the rough friction of the road and by the sickening impacts from rocks and potholes.

When we arrived at our destination a couple of unbearable hours later, the only part of my parents that were left were parts of their tattered legs and their feet that were still tied tightly to the SUV - The rest of them, from the knee up, had been grated up by the coarse road.


	15. Chapter 15 - The Guilt-Ridden Visit

**Chapter 15 – THE GUILT-RIDDEN VISIT**

* * *

Having cleaned up after making our dinner yet again, as my mom was ill stricken on the couch watching TV (but was slowly getting better, thanks to nurse Alison), I hovered around catching up on other housework, constantly checking my phone to see if Jill had messaged me, but as of yet there was no sign from her.

"Why are you pacing around like that?" Mom croaked from the living room.

Not wanting to get into a conversation with my mom, I walked into the room and replied swiftly, "Jill and I might be meeting up later tonight to plan this science experiment thing that we have to do."

"That's nice darling. What about Andy? You normally do these things with him." she asked in a slight moan, pushing herself up to a seating position on the faded couch.

I quickly checked my phone again…but there was nothing. "He hurt his ankle in Dodgeball a couple of days ago and is resting up at home."

"Oh Jake that's no good" she said as she took a slow sip of water from a glass she retrieved from the end table. "But I'm happy about Jill. Her family's come back then?"

"Um, yeah, they were away for the week, visiting their grandma who has just recently um, passed away."

My mom lay back down on the couch with a little groan and resumed her TV viewing, which seemed to help distract her from the nausea. "Oh, I see, that's so sad..."

"I'm going to have an early shower now, will you be okay?" I interrupted, glancing at the time which appeared to have slowed down grossly since I had gotten home.

"I'll be fine son, thank you. Oh and Jacob – I love you."

"I love you too." I replied exhaustively as I walked out of the room, lightly brushing my mom's forehead on the way past.

* * *

I quickly showered then stood in front of the mirror grooming myself at lot more than usual. The on-set of cold air from the approaching winter felt refreshing against my exposed torso. Afterwards I headed promptly back to my room, eager to check my phone yet again. Disappointingly, there was still no message from Jill. Turning on my stereo, I flicked through the music on my phone trying to find a song that matched my glum mood. Suddenly my phone vibrated, indicating a message had been sent to me. A rush of exhilaration fluttered through my skin as I swiped the password on my phone and opened the message...

Jill: _Nice towel Jake!_

Confused, I turned around and peered across the street towards Jill's house where I saw her standing in the window waving at me. Instinctively, I waved back clumsily and spun around out of sight, grabbing a shirt off the bedroom floor and slipping it on.

Okay, this is awkward…What do I do now?

My phone vibrated again.

Jill: _Pop around now if you can and don't forget your pants :)_

I popped my head around the window and glanced out again but Jill had left the room and was now out of sight. There was a moment of appease before my chest resumed its nervous, anxiety-driven thumping. Frantically, I rushed to get changed into my clothes, worried that this opportunity might slip past.

I text-replied as fast as my fingers allowed before bolting down stairs in a great racket.

Jake: _I'll be there shortly_

 _Oh no, my mom!_ ….. The thought suddenly hit me as I got to the stair's bottom landing. _I can't leave her by herself….. Or can I?_ I mulled over the consequences of each possible choice for a quick minute before I headed into the den to see Mom, to see what state she was in.

 _Okay….she is asleep, this is good…I think. I won't be long….we just need to figure out what we are going to do the experiment on - h_ _alf an hour tops._

The guilt I felt from the thought of leaving my sick, vulnerable mom at home alone was soon drowned out by an overpowering sense of exhilaration and sensuality of the possibilities that waited me at Jill's; and so, my decision had been made.

I opened the front door quietly, not wanting to disturb my sleeping mom, and stepped into the fresh brisk outside air; a strange sensation of freedom, like I had spent the last decade trapped in a box slowly suffocating on my own expelled air but was now released from the shackles having the world at my standby, flushed through me. This was liberation.

I didn't think too deeply into these unaccustomed feelings, because before I knew it, I had crossed the dimly lit street and was standing nervously at Jill's door.

* * *

Reaching into my jeans pocket I pulled out my phone and looked at the time.

Okay so it's currently seven thirty…. I've got to be home around eight - no exceptions.

Shuffling noises and odd moving shadow were coming from within Jill's house while I worked up the courage to knock. Swinging the door knocker timidly, I placed my phone back in my jeans and took a step back. A brief moment later, a thin tall man in his fifties stood in the door frame, tidily groomed and dressed in light green pleated pants and a grey polo shirt.

A heating sensation crept up to my head and I could feel my face getting warmer. I had hoped that Jill was going to answer the door.

"Good evening young man, what can I do for you?" the man asked politely, composing his words with great accuracy.

"Oh err, I was just after Jill, please" I faltered in reply.

"Sorry son, you are?" The man responded raising his eyebrow and cocking his head slightly to the left.

"Sorry sir, I'm Ja…"

"Dad, this is Jacob, from school, he lives just across the street." Jill said in a rush, suddenly popping into view from behind her dad. "He's here for the biology experiment that we have to make a start on."

"Oh I see, that's right, yes, I remember you mentioned something to me about a boy across the street." Jill's dad said with his eyes firmly fixed on me, as if he was analyzing my thoughts and character profile.

I felt relieved that Jill was here quickly to bridge the gap between us, to remove some of the tension that had thickened the air between us.

We all stood there for a brief, uncomfortable moment.

"Come on, inside Jacob!" Jill said cheerfully, finally breaking the silence and beckoning me to follow.

As Jill's dad headed off down the hallway in a perpendicular direction to us, we walked into the large open plan area that contained the living room, a cove, the dining room area and a large kitchen half tucked away around the corner.

The home was much warmer than mine, almost too warm. While I adjusted to the heat and resisted the urge to stare, I followed behind Jill who wore tight, heavily faded light blue jeans, a tan leather belt and a white Boho top that was see-through at the bottom, barely hiding the dimples on her hips.

It was extremely hard not to look.

"Don't mind my dad Jake, he tries to be protective of me, but it's all just for show." Jill mentioned as she continued to walk ahead of me.

We walked through to the kitchen where a middle aged woman was pulling out a delicious smelling cake from the oven.

"Mom, I would like you to met Jacob, my science partner." Jill said looking at her mom then looking back at me with a sparkly grin.

"It's nice to meet you Jacob." Jill's mom said with a smile while she removed the oven mitts. "I'm Jill's mom, Mary."

"Nice to meet you too Mrs…"

"Oh no ha ha…please call me Mary; Mrs. Rothwell makes me sound like an old woman." she laughed lightheartedly as she shook my clammy hand.

I forced out a nervous chuckle, "Okay Mary, not a problem".

"I've set us up over here," Jill said as she walked back to the living room and sat on a grey micro fiber couch that faced the lit fire place. "...have a seat."

"Okay." I sheepishly replied, feeling as though I was being gravitated in her direction by an invisible leash as I sat down next to her, our legs only a few inches apart.

In front of us was a large, rustic wooden coffee table with a tablet and a notepad sitting on top to one side; a contorted wire statue that held an array of hollowed-out light bulbs that harbored plants in them was positioned in the middle of the table as a center piece.

"What are those?" I asked pointing to the old light bulbs.

"Here's me being little "Miss Weird" again." Jill began semi sarcastically, chuckling to herself as she grabbed the tablet off the table. "These are actually little ecosystems within the bulbs. I guess it's a bit of a hobby sort of thing."

I leaned forward to have a closer look.

"They look really cool!" I said genuinely interested. "How do you put the stuff inside so neatly?"

"Do you _really_ want to know? Or are you just having me on?" Jill replied looking over the top of the tablet, creasing her eyebrows down discerningly but her cheeks rose above the tablet telling me she was hiding a cheeky grin.

"I'm being serious – seriously!" I replied earnestly, failing to control my widening smile..

"Well, it's pretty basic really. All you do is remove the middle metal socket part thingy, which also takes out the middle bits inside the bulb, then you use a funnel to put all the rocks and sand in, but not soil as that will get moldy, and then you simply put in air plants, moss and whatever in-organic stuff you want using some tweezers."

"Air plants? What are they?" I asked intrigued.

"They're really cool plants where they survive just by drawing everything they need from the air, no soil needed, hence their name."

"Wow, that's really cool, I didn't know such a plant existed." I said nodded my head with an impressed.

"They're called terrariums... I'm a bit of a hipster, I guess." Jill continued casually, "Anyway, should we get started looking at what experiment we could do for this assignment?"

"Yeah, good idea." I said as a slid back onto the couch tantalizing close to the gorgeous girl who sat next to me.

* * *

 _Focus Jacob, focus._

* * *

"Okay so where should we start?" Jill asked turning to face me.

"Maybe search for biology experiments for high school?" I replied thoughtfully.

"Good, logical, idea." she replied tapping her fingers on the tablet's screen.

* * *

A while later, we found an experiment that instantly both got us excited and it sparked up a of debate of sorts. The experiment was to basically subject some bacteria or algae to different types of music to see which genre they thrive most in. I believed that they would thrive best on rock music, whereas Jill believed it would be her indie house music.

"Okay, so we're going to need some equipment. Can you please note these down Jacob?" Jill said as she stared intently at the tablet's screen.

"Yip, ready when you are." I replied holding the notepad and pen ready in my hands.

"Right so we will need the following: Number one, Petri dishes with bacteria."

"Yip."

"Number two, MP3 players each with one specific genre, on repeat."

"Okay."

"And number three, headphones."

"Cool...well I've got an old MP3 player that I never use anymore, thanks to my phone taking over the music duties. We could use that?" I asked over-eagerly.

"Me too...and I've kept all my old phones actually...one of them could probably play music."

"Also I've got a bunch of headphones that I've collected through the years... ."

"I've got a couple lying around somewhere, maybe in the basement. So all we need is the Petri dishes. I think we could probably get them from the science lab?"

"Yeah I think so," I replied looking anxiously at the time on my phone.

* * *

 _It's past eight already? Where did the time just go….?_

* * *

"Are you okay?" Jill asked glancing at me a little puzzled.

"Yip, I'm okay." I gulped in reply feeling a sudden streak in my chest."Um, should we be proactive and get what we can set up?"

* * *

 _Mom will be okay...just another half an hour...she's probably still asleep anyway..._

* * *

"Hmm..." Jill thought for a brief moment. "Yip, okay...I'll have to pull my box of old stuff out of the closet to find one of the phones. Are you sure you want to start this today? We could do this tomorrow maybe?"

I couldn't be sure I would be able to make it tomorrow; I couldn't predict what state my mom would be in.

"Nah, it's alright, tonight's good… ...if it's good with you?" I replied looking away from Jill, almost certain that she knew I was hiding something.

"Okay, let's do it then!" she replied as she put the tablet back on the rustic table and headed towards the kitchen where her mom was decorating a cake.

"Hey, Mom...?" Jill stammered in a slightly nervous tone. "We've decided on what experiment we want to do and would like to get started on it today...be proactive, that sort of thing. We need to get some equipment from my bedroom...so...can Jake and I go up to my room to get the stuff?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure dear, you know how your dad and I feel about..." Jill's mom wavered, "...anyway, could you get the stuff yourself while he stays down here?"

"Mom! ...that would make Jake, _our guest_ , feel awkward." Jill replied suddenly looking back at me.

I looked away quickly but was sure she caught me looking at her. My face felt as though it was heating up, but I tried to convince myself it was just the heat from the fireplace across the lounge.

"Hmm... Okay, but be quick." Jill's mom said tiredly, turning back to her cake decorating.

"Thanks Mom." Jill replied triumphantly as she turned on her heal in a gleeful manner before making her way back to me.

Probably knowing that I'd overheard the conversation, Jill walked past me saying in a urged whisper, "...let's go upstairs..."

I promptly stood up and followed closely behind her, hoping not to cross paths with her dad. We walked upstairs to Jill's bedroom door where a colorful large knitted patch of fabric that said "Jill's room" hung off the front face.

"No judging, okay Jake? Not that I would care anyway." Jill mentioned cheekily, turning back at me while opening the door.

"Promise I won't." I replied with a kind smile as we stepped into her room.

* * *

The first thing I noticed about Jill's bedroom was the soft glow that was emitted from a string of round ball lights that hung loosely from the ceiling.

"Did you make those lights too?" I asked pointing upwards.

"Yep, that's me again," Jill replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Cool... ...so how are they made?"

"They're really pretty easy..." Jill began as she opened her closet door and tippy-toed to reach the top shelf. Her Boho top slid upwards exposing more of her smooth, slightly curvy midriff. "...you just wrap a balloon with some cotton, then coat it with glue. Once the glue dries, simply pop the balloon and yeah, you're pretty much done."

"That's a cool idea," I replied impressed once again as I sat down on her lime green bedspread.

Sighing contentedly, I gazed nosily around her room which had a light and airy feel to it. I took another deep sign and basked in the sweet, earthy scent that filled the room for a tormentingly small moment. There was a guitar sitting in one corner, random posters on a wall of all sorts, and a bean bag with a laptop on it next to her bed. Wall mounted shelves on another wall held a large number of books that were stacked messily, while another shelf adjacent held soft toys and little "nik naks."

"Ah, here we are!" Jill exclaimed and she pulled down a tan colored shoe box and carried it over to the bed, placing it carefully down next to me. She opened it slowly to reveal several well used looking phones, along with their chargers, some spare cases and memory cards.

"Ah, this one," Jill said pulling out one of the handsets. "I'll just plug this in and see if it starts up."

She leaned partially over me, brushing past my chest (unfortunately only for short time) and pushed the charger into the wall socket near the head of her bed.

 _I wished I could've paused the universe for just that very brief moment._

We stared at the phone for a few slow seconds before it decided to show a sign of life by booting up.

"So this is your view of my bedroom?" I asked cheekily turning to look across the street at my house.

"We'll have to transfer music onto it," Jill said swiftly, disregarding my teasing question. "Can you grab my laptop please Jake?"

"Okay," I replied unable to hold back a smile as I was happily enjoying Jill's deliberate dodging of my brazen question while I handed her laptop to her.  
Jill grabbed a memory card from the shoe box and slotted it into the front of her laptop.

"Let's see...I guess this phone will have to play the music that is on my laptop so we'll make it ..." she trailed off as she clicked on the mouse pad searching for music.

I hesitantly glanced back at my house and realized that my bedroom light had been turned on, presumably by my mom. "Sorry Jill, I should really go..." I said disjointedly in a defeated tone.

"Oh...okay?" Jill paused a little confused, "...is everything okay Jake?"

 _I really didn't want to just leave Jill in the dark, but I didn't want her to know yet either. I didn't want her pity or to lose her friendship. I especially didn't want to leave her bedroom this night, but what choice did I have?_

"Everything's all good, nothing to worry about. I just remembered there is something I have to do at home tonight." I said feeling guilty and as torn up as hell. "I'll see you at school tomorrow okay?"

"Okay Jake... ...but before you go, I want to give you a little something..." Jill replied seemingly unfazed.

My chest started racing with excitement.

"Give me your phone," Jill insisted, holding her hand out.

"Um, okay?" I hesitated for a second but obliged willingly.

She plugged my phone into her computer. "Here you go, I'm just transferring a few selected songs for your listening pleasure tonight."

"Oh, okay thanks I'll have to listen to them tonight. Thank you Jill, for tonight and everything." I replied putting the phone back into my pocket while hesitantly standing up. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Okay, hope so... ...I'll walk you out," Jill said placing the laptop to one side of her bed and getting up on her feet.

Following behind Jill we made our way down stairs and out the front door where the cold brisk air awaited.

"I really enjoyed tonight Jill. I think we're going to work well on this project together..." I said as I stepped outside. Turning back to face her, I slid my hands along the sides of my torso for warmth.

"Yeah it's going to be fun to see who wins…" Jill replied softly smiling as she stood in the warmth of the door well. "…but yeah, I'll catch up with you tomorrow."

I jogged casually across the damp, cold night's air and silently through the entrance door of my house. Full of anxiety, I crossed into the living room and saw that the couch was vacant.

Oh shit! My mom had woken up.


	16. Chapter 16 - The Strike Back

**Chapter 16 – THE STRIKE BACK**

* * *

I sneaked up the staircase and into the upstairs hallway – my chest pounded anxiously in my head. Peering through my open bedroom door, I was confounded to see it empty and upon turning around I noticed my mother's bedroom door was closed.

 _Do I check on her?_

Apprehension took hold of me while I stood in the dimly lit hallway debating with myself whether I should check on her or not.

 _I need to – her sickness is bigger than me and my silly adolescence._

Mustering up the courage and pushing aside my unease, I opened her door slowly and peeked in.

She was in bed, seemingly asleep.

 _Phew._

Clicking the door quietly shut, I headed for the comfort of my bed and tried to fall asleep, but my mind kept racing over and over with the guilt and sense of freedom that I had experienced this evening.

 _Will I be in trouble tomorrow? Will Jill be forgiving of me leaving her so abruptly?_

For the next few hours I brooded in worry while my body ever so slowly, fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, to my utter but pleasant surprise, I was greeted to the smell of butter cooking downstairs. I quickly changed into my usual black jeans and band shirt attire and hesitantly made my way to the kitchen.

"Good morning Jacob!" my mom greeted me overly-kindly as I walked into the room, "I've made you some pancakes".

"Thank you?" I replied slightly stunned and flustered.

We ate breakfast in an uneasy silence but the pancakes tasted nothing short of divine and I savored every single mouthful.

"I'm feeling well today after a good sleep," my mom mentioned between mouthfuls, breaking the eerie silence.

"That's good." I replied shortly.

More silence...

"Um Jacob….I've been thinking," she begun, darting her eyes slowly around the room fretfully, "I, um...I realize you were out last night…."

I continued to eat, attempting to mask the guilt I felt from last night's rendezvous with Jill.

"…and you should be able to do these normal teenage things, going out to see your friends… ...instead of being bound to this house, obliged to look after me…," her eyes shimmered with a light glaze.

I quickly finished the mouthful of pancake and softly interrupted, "It's okay Mom…"

"No, no it's not Jacob! – I've decided that there needs to be a change around here… ...we can't keep going on like this..." Her tone heightened with angst, thickly layered with emotion. "This is why I have organised for around the clock care, whenever I'm sick. This way you can live your life without having to worry about me."

"Um, okay but can we afford this?" I replied somewhat calmly, suppressing the odd concoction of feelings of liberation and delinquency that stirred heavily within my mind.

"We'll make it work, and it will be worth it... But don't you worry about these things okay son? These are adult concerns."

I nodded ignorantly and resumed the consumption of my remaining breakfast as possibilities of what this sudden freedom could mean for me raced through my thoughts.

My mom was right, even though it hurt… ...both of us. She was not getting the care she needed from me and I was starting to resent her for being bogged down by my obligations relating to her illness.

While my peers played video games and did other fun things that normal teenagers did, I was stuck at home cleaning, cooking or doing the laundry; I was missing out on my childhood.

* * *

Mirthlessly leaving the house and into the thick morning fog, I met up with Jill and as we walked towards school Jill had figured out that something was off-tone with me this morning, and although I was bursting to tell her about my problematic life at home, I restrained myself and attempted to brush it off. Being Jill, she lightly insisted only a couple of times to "let her in" before she changed the subject to something trivial and comedic to lift my brooded mood.

The distraction worked because before I knew it, we had arrived at the busy school gates.

"Well Jake, it was nice walking with you this morning," Jill said as she leaned towards me and gave me a quick peek on the cheek. "Hope you feel better soon."

"I, um….I – I" I stuttered, caught off-guard by her gesture of affection.

Jill started lightly jogging away towards the entrance doors and then she glanced back at me with a playful spark in her eyes.

"I'll see you later!" she shouted back narrowly clipping the shoulders of another student who gave her a slightly annoyed and startled expression. Jill took her gaze from me and looked at the student she had accidentally bumped into, "I'm so sorry" she said jokingly and the annoyed expression on the face of the student suddenly morphed into smile.

"That's okay!" the student replied kindly.

Jill then merged among the rest of the students and disappeared inside the school building while I hung around lumbering, waiting for the crowd to disperse, waiting for my crowd-anxiety to dissipate.

* * *

Later in the morning, Physical Education class was outside today on one of the school fields and our teacher, Mr. Porter, had set up white square bases in a diamond pattern; it looked like we were going to play a game of baseball. The morning's fog had since lifted and the sun had started to urge its weak presence through the thick clouds above.

Andy was still away from school while his ankle healed and so, like many times before, I was by myself, but unlike the other times, today was different – I had received a kiss from Jill… Okay so it was more like just a peek on the cheek, but that was enough to make my day!

"Right kids, line up over there…! Today we are playing a game of baseball!" Mr. Porter said over the top of the simmering students as he ushered the class into a single file that faced out towards the middle of the field. "Tim, Sarah, you guys are the captains today; come forward to me – okay, you're going to decide who has first pick for their team... Hmm... Let's see, yes a single round of paper scissor rock. Okay let's go!"

Sarah won the mini game and one by one, the team captains chose their teams. Unsurprisingly, I was picked last.

I sat on the bench awaiting my turn to bat. My thoughts dwelled on Jill and whether or not I was going to see her at lunch time.

 _God I hope so!_

"Play Ball!" the teacher shouted out over-enthusiastically as he eagerly rubbed his palms together.

A while later, the PE teacher shouted from halfway across the field, motioning me to go to the home base, "Right Jacob, you're up! Do your best!"

"Do your best Jacob!" a team member near me mocked as I groaned off the bench. Jogging over towards the pitch, I glanced over to mid field and my stomach lurched – the pitcher was Sam, the "head bully" of the school.

I reached down and picked up the metal bat, turned to Sam and gulped loudly.

"You're going down!" a voice from behind me taunted.

"You ready Jacob – to get slaughtered?" Sam menaced from the center sliding his finger across his throat.

"That's enough Sam!" the teacher warned sternly. "Now get on with it!"

A wild smile spread across Sam's lips.

Sam lent back and sprung his arm swiftly forward, sending the round projectile at great speed – aimed straight at my face.

In an instant, I ducked down and the ball whooshed past my left ear – missing it by barely an inch. Then there was a dull thud as the ball landed in the backstop's glove along with a devilish snicker that menacingly slipped out of the backstop's helmet. " _Jacob…."_

"Ball one!" Mr Porter shouted from behind me, seemingly not realizing that Sam was trying to hit me with the ball on purpose.

Sam wound up his throwing arm again and threw the ball even harder this time and it soared at a flaming speed towards my torso. I jumped out of the way and glared over to Mr Porter, who was at an acute angle where he probably couldn't see where Sam was throwing the ball.

"Strike one!" the teacher yelled out raising his hand with an outstretched index finger into the air.

"What?" I muttered under the helmet bewildered.

"You heard the man – _Jacob_ " the back stop sneered as he continued to taught me.

It's just a stupid game I thought to myself as I raised up the bat to endure another attack.

The malevolent pitcher nodded at the backstop as if teaming up him to hatch a plan, and started winding his arm around like a windmill –

Sam's face strained as he ejected the ball from his grasp at such speed it made him lose his balance and stumble forward. The ball approached me fiercely and was heading for my head once more. My primal instincts suddenly swept over me and I unclasped one of my hands off the bat, catching the ball a foot from my face. My palm erupted with a stinging sensation from the slap of the ball, and a rage I'd never felt before rose through me. I cocked my arm back and thrust the ball with a blinding fury – aimed at Sam's chest. Sam didn't have a chance react, to move out of the way, and the ball hit him square on the ribs, a sickening cracking sounded from his torso. He keeled over bleating onto the ground withering in pain.

Before I could make sense of what just happened, Mr Porter bellowed out angrily at me.

"Jacob! Principals office – now!"

Feeling only slightly remorseful, I removed the helmet and placed it heavily on the side bench as I made my way to the principal's office.

* * *

"You'll be spending your lunch time in here today Jacob," Mrs Aiken, the principal said calmly as she shut her office door behind me. "I will have one of the lunch ladies bring up your plate….in the mean time, you can sit at the desk over there and write an essay about respecting others."

"Yes Miss" I scarcely replied biting my tongue.

 _Why am I sitting here? I'm not the fucking bully!_

I'm going to miss seeing Jill at lunch! I thought about sneakily texting Jill to let her know I was here but Mrs Aiken would surely notice, then she would probably confiscate my phone.

The lunch bell rung and shortly afterwards my phone vibrated in my jeans pocket, three short vibrations – it was Jill.

Attempting to write something down on the blank piece of paper in front of me, my train of thought was interrupted by a loud ring from the phone on the principal's desk.

"Hello, Mrs Aiken speaking." she said before pausing, "Oh I see…no, that's not good, cracked ribs? ….yes I agree…..yes send him up to the hospital….and you've called his parents? ...good okay, thanks for letting me know and keep me informed."

The principal carefully placed the handset back into its cradle while she cleared her throat and turned her gaze towards me. "Ahem… Jacob?"

"Yes miss" I replied with subdued anger, turning around to face her.

"Sam, the boy you threw the ball at, he's being taken to the hospital with suspected broken ribs…now I know _he_ is the bully, but I also know _your_ situation at home…also you have a pretty clean record so I will note this down as a one-off incident, and no further action will be taken from here."

"Thank you" I said sincerely feeling some of the anger lift.

The principal nodded her head understandingly and then turned back to her computer screen where she continued to tap on the keyboard. "Oh and Jacob, for off the record…you must have one hell of an arm to throw the ball that hard to do that sort of damage to the large boy," she paused momentarily "….but anyway you can return to class once the lunch bell rings".

 _Served him right I thought, but was it worth it now that I was stuck in this office all lunch time missing out time I desperately wanted with Jill?_

The bell finally rung, signalling the end of the lunch break; relieved, I quickly left the stuffy office and pulled my phone out of my pocket hastily before I'd barely reached the bottom of the stairs.

Jill: _Hey Jake, didn't see you at lunch time...everything all good? :)_

I replied, cursing my fingers for not being able to type fast enough _._

Me: _Yep all good, explain later...see you in science class? :)_

Jill: _Yep sure will! Looking forward to it :)_

I paused briefly and sighed loudly before hurriedly stuffing the phone back into my pocket and rushing to my next class before the following bell went off.

* * *

I looked forward to my final class of the day – Science. One reason was that Sam was not going to be there, but more importantly, Jill _was_ going to be there and I had waited anxiously to see her again after missing out on lunch with her.

Walking through the Science class door a little early, an odd chemical smell struck my nostrils. The sweet stench was like wet socks that had been on a smelly man's feet for a week. I gagged a little bit and greeted the teacher who was once again completely engrossed in the weird ancient looking book, murmuring out loud to himself.

"Afternoon Jacob, please have a seat." Mr Henry said without bothering to glance up.

More students started to pile into the classroom after me and I took my seat hurriedly near the rear of the class by the window.

The clouds hadn't lifted all day, and the sunlight was already starting to fade.

"Hi Jacob!" A friendly voice sung out sweetly from a few desks away.

"Oh, hi Jill," I replied, my chest started to beat rapidly as I gazed at Jill suddenly remembering how pretty she was.

Jill sat down next to me and pulled out her heavy text book, "so...you were missing at lunchtime..."

"Yeah...about that..." I hesitated, unsure of how to start my explanation for the morning's events.

"Wait... I heard that Sam was sent to hospital with broken ribs during a game of soft ball this morning because someone threw the ball at him and it went straight into his chest...you wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

"Um... sort of... well... you see... I'm not proud of what I did..." I stammered embarrassingly.

"Oh so it was _you!_ Well that explains why you weren't a lunch, because you must've been at..." Jill smiled wildly as she joined the dots together.

"...Detention, yip, but in my defense, Sam had provoked me numerous times by trying to hit _me_ with the ball, but yeah I guess I flipped." I replied ever so lightly guarded.

"And you caught the ball without a glove? – see your hand? ...it's a little swollen and red" she continued as she gently grabbed my hand and turned it palm facing up.

I hadn't noticed my ailing hand – it must have been because of the residue adrenaline from earlier in the day, but now I felt the hot throbbing and tightness of the swelling.

Wishing Jill would hold my hand forever, Mr Henry abruptly called out to start the class and so with this, Jill let go of me and smiled, turning her attention to the front of the class.

 _I couldn't switch my focus off Jill so easily._

I let out a silent sigh.

The end of the class came around so much faster than the other classes, simply because Jill was next to me. The students started flustering as the clock ticked ever so closer to the number three, and Mr Henry was struggling to keep his pupils attention.

"Okay kids, before the bell rings, let me remind you that you should be starting your science experiments... Don't leave it to the last minute."

"Let's meet up later tonight Jake, like last night – bring the stuff you need from your house and we can get it started. Oh sorry...are you free tonight? I should've asked that first." Jill asked in a hushed voice chuckling lightly..

I thought about my obligations at home but suddenly remembered that my mom was having a good day today and even if she wasn't I could just call the nurse to come over now that the hospital care is not just during school hours.

"Let me check my diary..." I replied under my breath, jokingly pretending to turn the pages of an imaginary diary on the desk, "Yep, looks like I'm free tonight!"

"I'll text you later on but..." The last school bell of the day interrupted Jill mid sentence and the entire class stood up almost simultaneously and briskly headed out into the hallway.

"Sorry you were saying?" I asked Jill as we walked out through the class doors turning right before walking through the school entrance doors and down the concrete steps. Luckily, Science was one of the closest rooms to the school's exit.

"Um... just that my dad is picking my up today after school... I have a family outing, probably work related. So I'm really sorry Jake, I can't walk home with you today...but we should definitely meet later on okay?"

"I would love that," I replied a little dashed.

"Oh, here he is now... See you later!" Jill said perkily giving me a very quick, sneaky peck on the cheek. She then ran towards a late-model silver Ford Escape, climbed in and waved at me as they drove off out of sight.

* * *

I tiptoed around the house, for the second night in a row, eagerly waiting on a text from Jill to come through. Unlike the last night however, I hardly had any chores to do around the house to distract me, and now I wasn't sure if having all this spare time was such a blessing after all in situations like these.

There were still no lights on around Jill's house so I decided to work on some of my music projects on the computer – this would surely distract me.

It was getting late and Jill still hadn't text; I was sure that our plans would be off for tonight, much to my despair. Miraculously, as if Jill had somehow heard the thoughts spinning in my head, my phone suddenly vibrated loudly against the desk, startling me and breaking my focus away from the laptop screen.

Jill: _Sorry it's taken ages! We've just got back home from a dinner thing. Still wanna come over tonight?_


	17. Chapter 17 - Jolted Reality

**Chapter 17 – Jolted Reality**

* * *

I hurriedly collected the plastic bag that had the science equipment in it (MP3 player and headphones) and jogged out of the house and in no time arrived at Jill's.

She must have seen me coming across the street because she had opened the entrance door just as I arrived on her doorstep.

"Hey Jake!" she greeted me cheerfully.

"Oh hey, Jill…I brought some gear." I replied casually waving the plastic bag in front of me.

"Cool…come on in!"

We headed straight for the stairs, passing the opening archway to the lounge where Jill's parents snuggled coyly on the couch watching what looked like a documentary on the TV.

Stepping up the single flight of stairs, I followed behind Jill closely, and this time she led me not to her bedroom (like I had hoped) but instead to another room upstairs.

The room we now stood in was mostly bare with only a large desk and two office chairs in one corner under a wide window. Books and binders were neatly stacked on a shelving unit above the desk to one side and most of them were labelled with medical terms on their spines.

"What's this?" I asked intrigued pointing to an eyelet that was recessed on the wall opposite the desk.

"Oh, that…. well you see it's kind of a bed," Jill said as she brushed past me and pulled the eyelet down revealing a lengthy padded table. "Well actually it's a built in desk that my Dad converted into an examination bed."

"Oh I see… an examination table? Sounds a little creepy to me… What's its purpose?" I asked stroking my palm against the cold blue padded vinyl.

Jill chuckled out loudly, "Sorry… I guess I forgot to mention to you – my parents are doctors." She pulled herself up on the table and lay on her back; she fixed her gaze upon me. "They use this table to examine family and friends who mention anything wrong with themselves… but I don't think they've actually used it yet, but you get the idea."

"Cool," I asked as I causally leaned on the edge of the table, "what's it like having doctors for parents?"

"Um, it's pretty cool actually. I definitely feel safe under them. They can be pretty busy though, that's probably the worst part about it; but then again, when they are not at home, they are caring for other people so it's only a tiny sacrifice really." Jill barely finished her sentence when a groaning, quickly followed by a snapping sound erupted from the bed's wall supports.

"Jake!" Jill shrieked. "The bed's going to collapse! Quick! Jump off!"

Jill's hand pressed firmly on my back as she attempted to push me off the bed before the bed's supports gave way, but as I turned around, taking my weight off the bed, Jill's hand slipped off the side of my back and her momentum toppled her over the edge. She tumbled over clumsily and landed on the floor with a squeal of laughter.

"Are you alright?" I asked overly concerned while I extended my hands out towards her.

Jill's laughter quietened to a chuckle.

"I'm all good Jake, thank you." she said grasping my hands and pulling herself up still tittering away.

"Hey! Is everything okay up there?" Jill's father called out from the bottom of the stairs.

"Yes Dad!" Jill yelled out a little too close to my face as she looked at me with cheekily raised eyebrows. "We are just setting up the experiment…!"

* * *

A few days later I sat in front of my laptop listening to some old tunes that I had made throughout the last year.

A message suddenly popped up in the corner of my screen – it was Jill instant-messaging me.

Jill: _What are you doing this Friday night?_

My heart pounded suddenly against my rib cage as I fumbled my fingers on the keys in my reply to Jill.

Me: _Nothing planned…how come?_

Jill: _Come to the window so I can see you while we message :)_

I unplugged the laptop, walked over to my bed and glanced across the street to Jill's house to see her sitting on her bed cross-legged with her laptop on top of her lap. She smiled and waved at me kittenishly. I sat on the edge of my bed and waved back with a coy smile.

Jill: _You look cute tonight Jake :)_

Me: _Not as cute as you :)_

….

Me: _So this weekend?_

Jill: _Sorry got distracted ha ha. The Jackson Valley Winter Festival is coming up this Friday. I've never been…will you take me there?_

Me: _I haven't been in years! They have some pretty average attractions to be honest and I always thought it was more for kids…_

Jill: _Please don't make me beg Jake! LOL_

Me: _Okay…I'll go with you but you need to promise me something…_ :)

Jill: _LOL…sure? What is this thing I need to promise?_ :)

Me: _That you will share a candy floss with me._

Jill: _Ha ha are you serious? I'd love to_ :)

Me: _Okay I'll go with you then :)_

Jill: _Cool I can't wait to go on the Ferris wheel!_

Me: _There's a Ferris wheel? They didn't have that last time…_

Jill: _Sorry Jake, I gotta go, Mum's calling me. See you at school xoxoxo_

Me: _Can't wait_ :)

Glancing up from the laptop screen, I caught a glimpse of Jill walking out of her bedroom door in her light winter pajamas.

Life was good. I hadn't felt this way in such a long time.

I closed the laptop and flopped down on the bed and with my mind filled with joyous thoughts, I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A disturbing nightmare that didn't make sense jolted me upright on my bed. My mind hazed as I felt my sensors start to come into focus. Heaving noises came from across the hall – Mom must be sick again. The in-home nurse that was on the night shift walked with a heavy stride into Mom's room and I could hear her dampened murmuring through my closed bedroom door as she assured my Mom that everything was going to be okay. Nonplussed, I sat still feeling guilt-ridden yet relieved at the same time.

Trying to settle and compile the thoughts and feelings that were confronting me at this late hour, another peculiar sound caught the attention of my ear – the low sinister rumble of a car outside. I leaned toward the window and shivered with an uneasy feeling at the sight of the long, black, tinted car that was parked across the street, under the pale yellow street lamps outside of Jill's house.

Jill's curtains were open and the only light that dimly illuminated her bedroom was from a salt lamp that sat on a shelf. However the lamp appeared counterproductive as it cast more shadows around the room than it did to light it up.

The driver's door opened and a tallish male shaped figure dressed in a lengthy black coat with a black, wide top hat stepped out and corrected his attire, making sure his coat was straight and his face was hidden under the shadow of the hat's rim. The figure stood with his back turned to me and appeared to be looking for something – or looking out for something.

Without warning, the figure turned counter clockwise, cocked his head and glanced in my general direction surveying quickly from right to left. I dropped to the floor as fast as I could before I was spotted. An ominous feeling flushed through me.

Had the cloaked figure seen me? Why was he parked outside my house?

Curiosity braved another look. I peered through the curtain on the side of the window to see that whoever had come out of the car was now nowhere to be seen. Opening up the curtain a little more to get a wider view, I intriguingly noticed that Jill's front door had just been opened and was now slowly shutting, as if whoever had walked through it was carefully closing it silently behind him trying to remain undetected.

It must be a visitor – but at this time of night? Plus no lights were on in the house to greet this mysterious guest. How odd, something definitely seems off.

Having stood for a minute or so, watching Jill's house intently, I felt myself starting to tire.

...what the hell was that?

I rubbed my eyes with my hands in hope of clarifying what I had just seen, but much to my utter horror, the dark apparition was still there, shimmering in and out of the shadows cast by the lava lamp inside Jill's bedroom.

Oh my God – there is an intruder in Jill's bedroom.

A powerful instinct grabbed hold of me; I took off downstairs and bolted outside. Damn! My phone... I could use it to take a picture of this creep's car's number plate – but I had left it back in my bedroom! It would have been of no use anyway because I soon discovered as I briskly walked past the back of the car, that there was no licence plate on the vehicle. i]In fact there were no markings on the car at all. No badges, no stickers and no markings whatsoever.

Damn it!

I continued in a sprint to Jill's front door, which had been left slightly ajar. Hesitating in doubt about the situation for a very brief moment, I snapped, pushing open the door and bolting upstairs with no plan of execution.

"Jill! Jill!" I yelled out in a dreaded urgency, "There's a person in your room!"

Sprinting down the hallway and grabbing hold of Jill's bedroom door frame, my momentum swung me around rapidly, almost sending me on a collision course with a guitar that sat on a stand to the left. I stumbled and fell to my knees at Jill's bedside.

I stood up and looked frantically around the room, preparing myself to fight against the intruder.

Jill awoke bewildered and leaned upwards from the head of her bed. "Jake...is that you? What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"Um, there was a... I saw a... p-p-person in your room," I stammered disorientated as I begun to realize that the only intruder in her room was in fact, me.

"Jacob, son, what are doing here at this hour?" Jill's father firmly said between heavy pants while he stood in the doorway leaning his weight on the frame.

"I-I… I'm not sure… I thought I saw someone… and intruder…" I replied visibly shaken and embarrassed.

"Well, I'm actually kind of glad it's you Jacob... you see, as soon as I heard the commotion inside the house I assumed it was a thief so I called the police – and they are on their way now. We'll have to explain to them what has happened, but for now Jacob, would you please join me downstairs for a hot chocolate?" he said kindly waving his hand out gesturing for me to come with him. "Jill, I suggest you get some sleep tomorrow, for school. After you Jacob."

Giving Jill a failing smile, I stood up and headed downstairs; Jill's father followed closely behind me with his assuring hand on my shoulder.

Downstairs, halfway across the lounge, red and blue lights started flashing through gaps in the lounge curtains and I heard the sound of car doors shutting.

"Have a seat Jacob, I'll get the door." Jill's father lightly ordered pointing at one of the couches.

I semi-collapsed, exhausted, onto the soft microfiber upholstered sofa and watched as Jill's father opened the door and invited the officers in.

"Please officers have a seat… Would either of you like anything to drink?"

"Ah, no thank you sir," one Officer said as he sat down on the one of the seats opposite me.

"I'm alright too, thank you," the other Policeman said sitting down next to me on the same sofa.

"Would you still like a hot chocolate Jacob?" Jill's father asked as he walked towards the kitchen.

"Yes please," I replied a little less shaken than before.

The cop who sat opposite stared harshly at me while he pulled out a notepad and pen.

"Hi Jacob, my name is Officer Evans, but please call me Matt," the policeman next to me started. "Now, I'm sure you are keen to get back to sleep with school tomorrow but first, is it okay if I ask you some questions? My partner over there will just jot down some notes while we have a little talk. Sound okay to you Jacob?"

"Um…yeah okay," I muttered pushing myself back into the seat and slumping a little bit.

"Okay son, so let's start from the beginning..." the officer's eyebrows raised as a strained, caring look on his face emerged through his tough facial exterior.

"Well, I woke up from a bad dream and looked across at Jill's house. Um, I-I…I live across the street."

"I see…And then what happened?"

"Then there was a black car parked out on the street and a man dressed in a black suit and hat came out..." I paused and glanced up at the officer taking the notes. "He then went inside this house."

"So you saw him enter this house, through the front door?"

"Um kind of… I saw the door close behind him but I guess I didn't actually see him walk in through the, the…" I trailed off having realized that I didn't see who had actually walked into the house.

"Okay son, that's alright," the officer reassuringly said. "What happened after that?"

"I saw a shadow moving in Jill's room so I ran outside and um, loo-looked at the car."

"What kind of car was it? Was there any markings or brands on it?"

"I'm not sure, it did-didn't have any badges or plates on it and I didn't recognize the shape."

"Hmm… That's okay son, and this shadow that you saw, do you think it was the man from the car?"

"Not sure, I'm not sure sorry."

There was an uncomfortably short and silent pause.

Jill's father appeared back into the lounge holding a mug. "Here's your hot beverage Jacob" he said as he carefully handed me the cup. "Careful, it may be hot."

After a few sips of the cocoa I continued with my explanation but the officers had since relaxed having realized this was a false call out. "Then, I um, came to the front door and found it ajar, so fearing for Jill's safety, I guess, I bolted in straight to her room. But there was no one there – I looked around but no one was there?" I ranted on bewildered and confused. "Why was there was no one there? Where did they go?"

"It's alright son," the officer next to me said as he put his hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner. "Is your house the one with the hospital car outside?"

"Yes that's my place…um…my mom is terminally ill."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear Jacob... May I ask what she is sick with?"

"Some form of cancer – currently nobody knows anything about it and no one can do anything to help her."

"Okay, thanks for sharing that with me... for what it's worth Jacob, I hope she gets better..."

"Thanks."

"Well okay! I think we have all we need here…." Both officers stood up and gave each other a quick concluding expression. "We don't want to keep you up any longer, away from your sleep. Thank you for talking to us Jacob."

The officers and Jill's father walked out the front door where they continued to converse, their words muffled through the brick wall. I placed the now empty cup down on the wooden coffee table and stood near the bay window trying to eavesdrop on the adults' conversation, but I only managed to hear small segments….

"I don't know…"

"Well, there's no black car…"

"Maybe he's under a lot of stress…"

"…wonder how school…"

"What's going on?" a familiar voice sprung up above the other voices. I carefully moved a small segment of the curtain aside and peered through the little gap with one eye. From my angle, I could see that the night-shift nurse had arrived from across the road and had left the front door half open to my place.

My hope that this screwed up scenario would just blow over were now dashed and to make matters worse, my mom is most likely going to find out and she will probably blame herself.

Cupping my ear, I heard one of the officers from the other side of the wall explain to the nurse. "There is nothing to worry about madam, simply a misunderstanding."

"Is Jacob alright?" the nurse asked with a hint of angst, "Is he safe?"

"Yes, he is just inside having a hot cocoa actually," the officer paused, "…may I ask you some questions about Jacob?"

"Um… okay sure." the hint of angst disappeared from her voice and she seemed to relax.

"Jacob's mother is terminally ill, it this correct?"

"That's correct; she has an untreatable form of cancer."

"Would you say that this puts Jacob under emotional stress?"

"Well of course it does… It's a lot to ask of a teenager to process these difficult situations… but since opting for in-home care I believe things should get better for him."

"Better for him? In what way?"

"Well he used to look after his mom doing the household chores; cooking, cleaning, laundry... that sort of thing. But probably the hardest part was looking after her when she was having a bout of nausea, cleaning up after the vomiting, I feel sorry for the boy, he couldn't really be a normal teenager."

"I see…. and do you know how he's coping at school?" the officer asked dully, as if he had already come to his damning conclusion of me.

"I - I don't know sorry," the nurse started, "Um… if it's okay, I'd better go back and check on Jacob's mom… Jacob won't be far behind?"

"No he won't be long," the officer said as the nurse nodded in response and turned around; she headed back towards my house in a light jog.

"I'm a doctor at the local hospital," Jill's father injected lowering his voice as he walked down the couple of steps to the pathway trying to eliminate the possibility of being overheard. "A boy from Jacob's school came to the hospital today with cracked ribs… when I asked what happened he explained that Jacob had thrown a soft ball into him; the thing is though, it must have been a really powerful blow for a ball like that do that sort of injury. I assumed it was an exaggeration so I didn't think twice about it… My point officer is that maybe Jacob did lash out at school which may indicate problems there too?"

Both officers and Jill's father now stood just in my line of sight. I closed the curtain ever so slightly so that only a tiny slit was now open to peer through.

One of the officer's radios crackled into life, " _We have a possible ten fifty five on the Main East Highway, available units respond._ "

The officer replied into his shoulder mounted microphone, "Ten four, unit four responding…. We've got to go, thanks for the information Doctor, we'll be in touch."

I closed the curtain and rushed back to where I had been sitting; Seconds later, Jill's father walked into the lounge.

"How was your drink Jacob?" he asked picking up the empty vessel off the table.

"It was good, thank you. I, um…better get back home," I replied nervously standing up and stretching. "Should get some sleep in before scho –"a yawn slipped out.

"Yes, good idea… Have a good night Jacob."

The cold northerly air outside hit me harshly sending goose bumps down along my arms as I crossed the street. I hurriedly walked inside my house and made my way up the stairs in a somewhat sleepy haze. It was eerily silent upstairs. I had kind of expected the nurse to be here, to console me, but I guess she had since gone to back to bed too.

I breathed out exhaustively.

A four tone dark melody then sung out quietly from my bedroom; my phone beckoned me with a newly received text message.

Who could be texting me at this ungodly hour?

Jill: _Hey sleepwalker, look out your window :)_

Puzzled, I peered out through my bedroom and almost fell to my knees in a delightful confounding.

Partially blocking Jill's window was a large white piece of paper that had the letters "T" and "Y" written in thick black vivid.

TY?

I thought for a second before I realized what the letters stood for – Thank You.

A short moment later, Jill turned the large piece of paper over to reveal more markings; a "XO" and below that was a ":)".

Instantly, my chest fluttered with a shot of peppiness and I could feel the heat rising to my head. Jill then put the sheet of paper to one side and blew me a kiss before suddenly disappearing from view and pulling the curtains shut. I breathed deeply with a sigh of content.

Jill had that special ability to put me at ease, no matter the situation.

I loved this about her.

After a few seconds of reverie, a low, almost inaudible rumble emitted from outside, disrupting my mini muse – had the black car returned?

Opening up one of the windows and leaning out towards the direction of sound, I looked down the street and spotted much to my utter dismay, a long black car that sat idling on the corner; it's rubble crooned, like it was menacingly taunting me, daring me to challenge it.

I stared at the car squinting harder for a better view when a sense of blackened dread came over me.

All of a sudden, the car accelerated away in a screech and a roar, blowing out the street lamps above it as it drove off from my view.

Had the car really been there? Or was I just seeing things?

My thoughts of doubt and disbelief spiraled painfully throughout my head as I struggled to make sense of my actuality.


	18. C18 Winter Festival's Ominous Surprise

**Chapter 18 – Winter Fair's Ominous Surprise**

* * *

Northerly winter winds were settling in and the temperature in Jackson Valley was starting to drop to near freezing. Winter, as it seemed, was just around the corner.

The Friday night that the town was holding their annual Winter Festival had finally arrived, and at an agonizingly slow pace at that.

This event's attendance was what I considered to be our first date for Jill and I, and although we had not yet discussed our relationship status, (nor did we feel we had to put a label on it) we were both happy in each other's company, what else did we really need?

"You ready to go?" I asked Jill, who stood in the entrance doorway at her place, dressed in indie looking winter clothes; A thick knitted, cream colored beanie covered her head and her light blonde hair that dropped messily out from the all sides of the beanie overlapped a loose fitting, light pink, knitted pullover. Faded brown tight-fitting jeans covered her petite, yet curvy legs, and covering her feet and halfway up her shins, were a pair of black leather boots.

"Yep sure am!" Jill replied euphorically. "I see you've finally adopted the colder weather by finally wearing a hooded sweater…looks kinda hot on you."

"Oh ha, thanks" I skittishly replied casting my eyes down, glancing at my worn-out skate shoes for a brief moment.

The clothes I wore were warm but looked rather dull; I wore the same black jeans and band shirt all year round, the only difference now that it was colder, was that I also wore a dark grey hooded sweater and a dull green arm-less jacket over the top of the sweater. My hood was raised halfway up over my head while my straight, mid-length jet black hair protruded over my fore head and over the sides of my face (one side was covered more than the other).

"Mom! I'm going now! We'll be back later… I've got my phone on me!" Jill yelled out down the hall.

"Okay honey, stay safe and warm!" Jill's mom shouted back, "…and look after each other!"

Jill turned to face me again. "Let's go!" she said excitedly.

* * *

The Winter Festival was a couple of miles down the road and rather than take a car there, we decided to walk, after all we walked every other day to school together anyway so it felt only natural to walk to the festival late this afternoon.

It was getting darker earlier in the day now and although it was still technically the afternoon, dusk crept upon us as we reached the festival's parameter fence. Smooth scattered clouds reflected the last pink remnants of the sun's light as it slowly descended beyond the horizon. Below the scarlet-sky, an array of colored lights enveloped the festival's area with a playful vibrancy.

The large Ferris wheel in the near distance stood out towering above the vendor stands with its bright gleaming lights that were arranged in rainbow colors and shaped like a psychedelic spiral.

"Look – at – that!" Jill said breathlessly as she pointed up towards the Ferris wheel. "Isn't it beautiful?"

We paid the entry fee, collected our tokens and walked through the rotary entry gates and stood off to one side. There were large crowds scattered in all directions and I felt a sudden urge to turn around and run away as I always did in crowds, even at school.

Jill sensed a shift in my demeanor. "Are you okay?" she asked kindly as she placed her reassuring hand on my arm.

"Um…yeah" I replied, but the returned expression on Jill's face gave me the impression that she hadn't believed me.

"Come on!" she said grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the rows of vendor stands. "Let's have some fun and play some games!"

Jill led me, my hand in hers, through the scores of people clamoring at the game stands. My urge to avoid this large crowd that encompassed around the vendor's games had succumbed to the sudden thrill of having physical contact with Jill.

Having arrived at the "Laughing Clowns" game, Jill turned and stared at me with a mischievous look in her eye.

"Classic Laughing Clowns, where everyone wins a prize," she said as she slipped the vendor worker a token.

"Here you go." the festival worker said, handing five balls to Jill.

"Are-you-ready!" Jill said enthusiastically (and almost embarrassingly), like she was refereeing a boxing match.

"Um… sure?" I replied dully, only amused by Jill's over-the-top antics.

Jill cradled the balls in her arm, and one at a time she placed them between the clown's red painted lips and down its creepy looking gaped mouth.

"Two..." Jill counted aloud as the balls rolled into their numbered slots "Four… One… Three… Two…. That's a total of twelve!"

"Congratulations," The vendor assistant said monotonously pointing up to a row of small soft toys and chocolate bars that were stationed behind him. "You may pick your prize from this shelf."

"Hmm… so many good options… how to pick…?" Jill said childishly rubbing her chin as she eyed up the selection to pick from. The assistant sighed and glanced away looking clearly bored and impatient. Then a second later Jill pointed to the range of candy on the shelf. "Mars bar please kind sir!"

The Festival worker handed the chocolate bar to Jill and forced out a painful looking smirk before attending to another person playing further down the row of moving clown heads.

"You're going to share that, right?" I asked Jill cheekily leaning my weighted shoulder against hers sending her a little off balance.

"Ha ha you must be dreaming…!" she replied provocatively stuffing the chocolate bar into my front sweater pocket and whispering into my ear, " _k_ _eep this safe for me..._ "

A resonating tingle shot down my spine in a strange but sensual contentment.

I patted the pocket where the Mars Bar was in. "Okay..., it's safe with me… hmm… so... what do you want to do next?" I replied sheepishly as I re-gathered my present whereabouts.

"Um… let's just walk and see what else there is around here."

Jill grabbed my hand again and we strolled slowly past the brightly lit rows of colorful booths; soft toys of all sorts of shapes and colors adorned their backdrops behind their operators, and more soft toys hung underneath the front awnings that were also vibrantly lit. It was nothing short of a visual sensory overload.

* * *

Having strolled past games such as Mini Golf, Football Toss, Hoop Toss, High Striker, and innumerable shooting-style games, we stopped outside the Milk Can Toss stand and joined the back of the small queue.

"Ha ha… Another classic!" Jill said excitedly squeezing my hand before letting go. "This festival is awesome!"

I rolled my eyes and smiled at her, and in a cute retaliation Jill curled up her nose and hit me with a short sharp punch to my upper arm.

"Ow! Ha ha!" I responded playfully.

After a few minutes the line in front of us shortened. We stood behind a young boy and his mother who had just starting playing their hand at the Milk Can Toss. The boy would have only been five or six years old, but he had a very accurate throw for his age. His first throw knocked off the top tier of bottles; his second knocked off the middle row, but only just; and then on his last throw he paused in concentration, before hurling the ball which subsequently hit the bottom row of bottles precisely in the middle – but the bottles didn't wobble at all - it was as if he had thrown the ball against a brick wall! And with a bewildered and shattered look on his face the boy started weeping. "Why didn't the bottles fall mum?" he asked sobbing as he hugged his mom.

"I'm sorry Simon, let's go and find another game," the mother replied patting her son's head in comfort.

"Excuse me... sorry!" Jill said tapping on the boy's shoulder, "I believe you hit the bottles fair and square and so I have a little prize for you." Jill turned to face me and pulled out the Mars Bar from my pocket. She then lowered herself down to the boy and handed him the chocolate bar. "Here you go, don't eat it all at once!"

"Tha - thank you…" the boy replied gracefully and a little confused, putting the chocolate bar in his pocket and wiping his teary face with the sleeve of his other arm.

"Thank you… You're an angel!" the mom said as she and her son turned around and slowly dawdled off hand in hand. A few steps later the son turned around and beamed a cute smile at Jill.

"Welcome to Jackson Valley Milk Can Toss. If you can knock down all bottles with three balls you get to choose any prize from behind me!" The vendor operator said enthusiastically as he handed Jill three balls.

"Did you want a go?" Jill asked holding the balls out in front of me, against my torso.

"Nah, it is okay, you throw them." I said with a smile tilting my head towards the milk bottles that sat tantalizingly close, only two or three yards away from the throwing line.

"Okay then…. Watch and learn!" she replied with jolly determination.

Jill threw the first ball, surprising fast, hitting the middle stack with a light thud; the stack wobbled and collapsed taking down not only the middle tier, but the top tier as well; the bottom row didn't appear to have flinched.

"Woo hoo!" Jill shrieked bopping up and down on the spot in sheer delight. She then focused on her second throw which soon left her hand at a quickened pace. The soft ball collided with one of the remaining bottles on the far left – but the vessel barely moved.

"What? I don't get it?" Jill said as she turned to face me with look of slight confusion and disappointment.

"It's rigged – the bottles at the bottom are filled with lead" A man mentioned from behind us as he walked past. "Only fools play this game!"

"Um Jill, can I throw the last ball?" I asked with a slither of annoyance at this new found knowledge about the game.

"Yeah sure, of course Jake" Jill said, her voice sounding as though it had suddenly chirped up.

Jill stepped aside and placed the ball in my held out palm as I stepped forward to the throwing line. I thought about the softball game at school and how Sam's persistent bullying caused an unusual rage within me that resulted in a weird but brief burst of strength.

Sudden rushes of emotionally driven thoughts and feelings flooded my head with an aching torrid; my sick mom, the bullies at school, my absence of self worth, my depths of loneliness and a longing for my father….

I cocked my arm back, then, swiftly heaved it forward with what felt like a torrent of an unfamiliar force, and the feathery-light ball, at bullet-like speed, crashed into the remaining milk bottles with a loud clap, sending them tumbling back behind the stand they had sat on and onto the other fallen bottles with a clang.

"Whoa Jake... That throw was absolutely awesome!" Jill cheered over-excitedly.

The Festival worker's eyes widened and his chin dropped, a look of amazement mixed with sheer confusion seemed to have momentarily stunned him. "Ah... con-congratulations, you get to pick your prize from here?" The worker stammered as he turned around cautiously and vaguely pointed to the row of toys that sat on the shelf behind him. The selection of prizes ranged from large soft toys to novel electronics like "walkie talkies".

"Jake you have to help me decide..." Jill said pulling me around by my shoulder. "There's heaps of cool stuff to choose from...!"

"Ah okay..." I replied somewhat stunned myself as I peered over to the high quality toys on the shelf that were really just enticements to lure punters into an almost-impossible-to-win game. "What about those night-vision mini binoculars over there?" I replied to Jill pointing to the far left of the shelf.

"Uh hum, excuse me...!" an impatient voice from behind us sprung up. I twisted around to apologize but stopped short when I saw that the complainants were two snobby younger girls who had an expression of entitlement stamped on their faces; both girls chewed gum loudly, like cows chomping on grass and sported their hand on their hips.

"Um.. Ah.. Okay, can I please have the binoculars kind sir?" Jill bellowed out over the neighboring vendor's queue of loud teenage boys awaiting their turn on the shooting game.

The Milk Can Toss's worker nodded at me with suspicion and gave the small binoculars to Jill.

"I know you wanted those... to spy on me!" Jill said cheerfully as she leaned in towards me and slipped the binoculars into my sweater pocket where the Mars Bar once was.

"Cotton candy! Cotton candy!" a voice boomed over the crowds, "Come and get your Candy candy!" Through the surrounding people that hovered around, I spotted a woman dressed in bright pink pushing a matching colored pink, candy floss wagon. Giving Jill a bantering look, I bravely grabbed hold of her soft hand and gently pulled her towards the candy cart and _through the crowd_.

"A promise is a promise!" I said looking back gleefully. Jill's eyes lit up with a sparkle and she simply nodded in agreement.

Having reached the wagon only a few brief seconds later, then purchasing the candy with some tokens, Jill and I headed to the Ferris wheel.

The queue was surprisingly short, and in what felt like no time at all, we were sitting on the cold, cushion-padded bench seats of the Ferris wheel. With a slight jerk, the ride started and we began our ascend.

I held the Cotton candy between us and as we shared the sweet treat together, we both turned inwards towards each other and with our inner knees touching, Jill placed her warm hand on my leg and gave it a friendly squeeze. After a moment of blissfulness of quick glances back and forth into Jill's blue eyes through the cloud of the candy held in my hand, the Cotton candy had now almost disappeared, and I noticed how the bright and colorful lights of the Ferris wheel lit up Jill's stunningly beautiful face and I realized to my amazement that we were staring deeply into each other's soulful eyes. As we got closer and closer to each other, the busy festival atmosphere was progressively muted out and my awareness of our climbing altitude noticeably diminished. I could smell her sweet scented perfume and could feel her light breathing caressing my cheeks in a ruminating rhythm. I dazedly lowered the Cotton candy stick...

We were about to kiss for the first time...

Clunk!

Suddenly, we were jolted forwarded roughly within our seats; the carriage that we sat in swung back and forth in a gentle motion.

"Woa, what was that?" I asked Jill abruptly as I peered around the carriage in a small panic realizing that we were now at the top of the Ferris wheel – and stuck.

"Apologies folks, we have had a small electrical problem..." a voice crackled from a small speaker from within our carriage, "It will only take a short time to fix, in the meantime, please remain in your seats until this fault has been repaired... it should not take long."

The air around us felt significantly colder and damper at the ceiling height of the Ferris wheel than it did at the vendor stands below, and a chilly light wind persisted to breeze past my nose which now felt quite a bit colder than the rest of me.

I glanced back awkwardly at Jill in hope that the moment we just had would rapidly return, but the moment had indeed passed and she was now staring up intently at the night sky.

"Jake...? What do you see when you look up at the stars?" Jill asked as she continued to gaze upwards.

"Little glowing balls of gas?" I replied shortly with a little sarcasm. "Why? What do you see?"

"I see... The universe's universe." Jill said glancing at me briefly before casting her eyes back up to the night sky.

"Ah... Um okay?" I said slowly in a confused tone. "What do you mean?"

"Well you see, and you know me Jake, so you know that this is going to probably sound a bit odd... But I like to think that when I look out at the stars, I'm actually seeing the universal part, like the middle of the... Okay let me start over. Imagine that a lot of the stars that we see have planets orbiting them and let's just say a lot of these planets have other beings like us on them and when they look out into their night sky, they see what we see, a beautiful array of stars and galaxies, maybe more or less depending on their genetics I suppose... And I guess that would be the one thing we all would have in common with the universe, is that our view of the stars are the same, no matter what planet you live on... And what if those extra terrestrials, or whatever you would call them, are people that have previously lived on this Earth that have since passed away? Anyway that's what I see when I look up at night time."

I nodded in an thoughtful understanding.

"Whoa, I like the way you think Jill. It's hopeful elevating. I guess it's nice to think that when someone passes they..."

Trailing off, I peered off into the distance towards the town trying to process Jill's theory about the universe.

We had almost a bird's eye view of Jackson Valley's town center that was lit up by yellow street lamps that made the boring grid-like layout of the buildings and streets noticeably stand out. Further off in the distance, I saw a line of street lights that seemed to be flickering violently.

"Hmm that's odd." I mentioned out loud, lowering my eye brows as if I was deep in thought.

"Yes, I am odd Jake, but what are you talking about?" Jill said playfully nudging me with her elbow.

"Ha ha, no that's not it... I thought I um saw..." I had started to explain to Jill about what I thought I saw off in the distance, but then I remembered Jill's winning prize – the binoculars. I pulled out the small binoculars from my sweater pocket and pushed them against my eyes and searched around for the flickering lights. A few seconds later I spotted the fluttering lights, and with my thumb, I adjusted the focus wheel until my vision of the street became crystal clear. My chest suddenly felt tight with gripping fear.

"What the hell?" I gasped breathlessly in horror as I focused on an ominously dark shadow that shimmered at the farthest point of the glinting street...

"It can't be..."


	19. Chapter 19 - Snowflake Wish

**Chapter 19 – Snowflake Wish**

* * *

"What is it Jake?" Jill asked, softly pressing her hand on my shoulder.

"Um… See that street over there with the flickering lights?" I replied still staring shakily though the binoculars at the long black car that was parked along the curb between some steaming vents; the car remained stationery, and there were no signs of anyone around the car but I could sense a dark sinister presence from within it.

"Yeah… I see the street. It's a little strange that it's the only street without lights – but what do you see Jake, through the binoculars?"

Wanting to blurt out that I was seeing the seedy car from the other night, the night I thought I had seen an intruder in Jill's room, I resisted and stopped short as I wasn't sure how Jill would receive my confession, hell I wasn't even sure the vehicle was even really there!

"Have a look and tell me what you see," I said to Jill as I handed the small binoculars to her.

"Okay?" Jill replied sounding a little unsure. She looked through the binoculars and moved them from side to side, and up and down in search for the street.

"Okay… Found the street." Jill quickly said a short moment later.

I suddenly found myself breathing faster and harder in a dreaded anticipation that Jill might (or might not) confirm the existence of the strange car.

"Do you… Do you see it?" I blurted out eagerly, waves of anxiety started to painfully grow inside my chest.

"Um not sure… What am I looking for –"

Without warning, a whirring noise sounded from below us and our carriage clunked back into motion swaying us in our seats a little roughly.

"Argh… Lost it… Lost the street!" Jill mentioned sounding a bit disappointed as she put the binoculars down and onto her lap. "What did I miss? Was it good?"

"It was just a cool car, that's all," I replied somewhat discouraged and a little disjointed.

Lying to Jill was not something I wanted to do, but I felt it was necessary to protect her from whatever I was experiencing, whether the sightings of this car and the intruder were real or not.

"Oh, that's cool..." Jill said with a tone that suddenly lacked her usual peppiness. "Did you want to keep these?" she continued as she jabbed the binoculars uncomfortably into the side of my ribs.

"Ouch, okay, I'll borrow them then… If you insist," I replied rather cautiously having sensed the negative shift in Jill's demeanor.

* * *

The Ferris wheel ride finished shortly afterwards and a hushed restlessness fell between us and after checking her phone, Jill suggested that we should head back home. It didn't sound like Jill had given me a choice, so I agreed and we both walked between the food stands, past the festival's dwindling crowds, and out past the exit gate.

Cold air awaited us outside the festival gates and it undoubtedly felt much chillier than it did on the walk here. The pale yellow lights from the streetlamps above us guided us on our walk home; tall, age-old trees cast shadows of odd finger-like shapes from their contorted branches across our path. The moon's dim light hazed through a thick layer of fog from beyond the trees and through their withering, leafless branches. I constantly glanced up at the street lights, anxious that they might start showing signs of anything out of the ordinary.

Jill walked stiffly and at an increased pace towards home, and it seemed as though I was always trailing a step behind her.

"Are you okay Jill?" I asked breathlessly as I ran past her, turned a half circle, then started jogging backwards. Jill looked at the pavement and increased her pace slightly, murmuring in a feeble grumble towards the ground with her chin against her chest.

I couldn't stand to see Jill who I knew to be vibrant and full of life, now be sullen in front of me – and on our first date.

"Jill…" I panted reaching my arms out in a kind gesture struggling to keep a backwards jog at her quickened pace. "Jill, please tell…"

With my focus more on Jill than where I was going, I hadn't realized that we were veering off the paved sidewalk slightly, but it was too late to correct my footing as the toes of my shoes slipped on a patch of grass, sending me tumbling, backside first towards the cold, wet and sodden ground. Instinctively I placed my hands behind me to break my fall, but they too slipped on the icy grass and I landed on the soft ground on my back. The freezing dampness from the dew covered grass immediately soaked into the upper part of my jeans, and as my sweater had rode halfway up my back after the rough landing, exposing my shirt and bare back underneath, they too got icily wet.

"Ah! Crap…" I cursed out loudly flicking off the blades of grass from my palms, too embarrassed to pick myself up straightaway.

"He he!" Jill started smirking quietly a few steps back, and I saw her widening lips turn into a large smile and then a second later, into an uncontrolled giggling; the giggles abruptly turned into a hysterical laughter mixed with snorting and she was now hunched over in a fit, pointing at me.

 _….and she's back!_

"Are - you - okay?" Jill managed to squeeze the words out between her fits of laughter.

"I'm okay," I replied chuckling, glad to see her happy again.

After a short humorous moment, Jill's laughter eventually subsided and now she knelt down beside me and placed her hand on my knee. There was a look of kind understanding that sparkled in her eyes. "You know you can tell me anything Jake… Anything at all... You don't have to hide."

I nodded and took a deep breath as I realized she was right.

 _Now was the right time to tell her._

I sighed in relief, "You know the night I thought I saw an intruder in your bedroom?"

"Yeah," Jill nodded lightly.

"Well, I saw a car that night too… The car I think belongs to the intruder."

"And you saw the car again tonight?" Jill guessed with a deepening worried look.

"Yes but that's not exactly the only problem, Jill I'm worried... You see after I spoke to the police officers, I'm not sure that what I saw was actually… Um –" I hesitated for a moment, "...if what I saw actually _existed_ or not. They seem to think that as I'm under a lot of stress at home and school that I'm seeing things... Things that aren't real."

"Stress at home? What sort of stress are you talking about Jake?"

I paused and bit my lip, I had said too much already. "My mom. She has cancer it's terminal."

"Oh…" Jill's concerned expression quickly changed to one of sincere compassion. "I'm really sorry Jake… I-I didn't know. If you need any help with anything, absolutely anything at all, please let me know okay?"

"Yip." I gulped, fighting to torrent of tears swelling inside me.

"I will be here for you Jake no matter what." Jill said softly as she placed her warm comforting hand on my cheek, staring at me with her eyes that had glazed up with sympathy. "You can talk to me about it whenever you want, even if it's three o'clock in the morning."

The heart-wrenching moment slowly dwindled away, and with it, so did my drifting fears about my mother's future and how much time she actually had left on this planet. I gazed up at the night sky and hazily spotted a gleaming white speckle drift from side to side, dancing it's merrily way towards me.

"What is that?" I asked pointing towards the swaying speckle.

Jill gazed up momentarily before turning back to me and smiling gently, "it's the first snowflake of winter – and it's huge and beautifully formed."

The glistening flake peacefully floated further down and landed on my nose.

"That's good luck Jake – you should make a wish."

I sighed longingly and made my wish silently.

Jill stood up and held her hands out. "Come on Jake, I'll help you up."

After the helping hand from Jill, I now stood up on my feet wiping the slimy wet grass from my clothing.

"Sorry about before…, about my attitude Jake. I guess… I'm hoping that we can be completely open with each other and I figured you weren't being honest with me up on the Ferris wheel…" Jill paused in thought, "oh… and by the way, you're a _terrible_ liar."

"Hey!" I protested giving her a cheeky nudge on her shoulder as we continued our walk towards home.

"I'm sorry too Jill, I should've opened up to you but I guess I've kind of only had myself to confine in so I find it difficult to talk… Please don't tell anyone at school about my mom." I glanced down and kicked a stone onto the road, Jill then wrapped her arm around my waist and I felt the warmth of her arm through my layers of clothing.

"I won't say anything to anybody Jake, I promise… and you can confine in me. Oh, by the way, before I forget again… I don't know if this is a coincidence or whatever," Jill glanced up at me as we walked together clumsily trying to match our steps to be in time with each others, "but the night that you… err, visited me... The bulb in my salt lamp blew, which is weird because it's never done that before and it's old - I got it for my eighth birthday."

* * *

The following week at school, our biology experiments we due. Jill and I had spent every other day at her house writing up the hypothesis, analyzing the results and coming up with the conclusion. Jill had taken daily pictures of the Petri dishes over the period of the experiment and we coupled those with graphs to show the results.

Neither Jill or myself were right with our guesses from the start of the experiment as to which genre of music would encourage the most growth for our bacteria samples; Classical music came out at top, while R&B seemed to greatly inhibit the expansion of the bacteria, all the while our choices were somewhere in the middle.

My thoughts over the past week had become more positive than ever before and I could only narrow this down to the large amount of time I had spent hanging out with Jill, working on the experiment and joking around.

We had created a large cardboard stand that displayed all our results and to make it stand out from the rest of the exhibits, and much to my protest, Jill thought it was a good idea to mount battery powered fairy lights around the stand. One thing was for sure – it looked festive as we stared at it while it stood tall on Jill's lounge coffee table.

"I think it looks great!" Jill's mom pointed out briefly as she hurriedly walked past us with a hamper washing in her arms.

"Well... I think we're finished Jake... What do you think?" Jill asked placing her hand on her hip and her other on her chin as she shifted her weight onto one leg.

"Yep I think so. I think it's finished." I replied scanning the board up and down trying to think of possible improvements.

"Cool! Now that we have finished it, I can show you your surprise!" Jill's face beamed and her eyes lit up with eagerness. "It's upstairs. Come with me Jake."

My eyes darted around the room a little unsure of what was to follow. "Um, okay."

I followed Jill up the stairs and into her light, airy room and waited in the doorway of her bedroom.

"Please Jake, have a seat!" Jill said waving her arm frantically towards the bean bag.

"Ha, okay, sure." I chuckled, amused at how excited Jill was acting all of a sudden.

"And close your eyes..." she added.

"Err, okay."

I covered my eyes and listened out intently for clues but couldn't piece together what she was setting up.

"Okay you can open them now."

I lowered my eyes and saw Jill sitting on a seat a few feet opposite me with a guitar straddled in her arm.

"I've been practicing this song just for you. I hope you enjoy it," she mentioned quickly as she began plucking the strings in a harmonic rhythm. She played divinely and sung with a sweet and mesmerizing tone that was slightly strained with peaks of emotion in the higher notes. The song itself had utterly sad lyrics, but somehow Jill made it sound buoyant and uplifting to listen to.

"Wow... That was really – amazing!" I exclaimed jumping off the bean bag and clapping in a one man standing ovation. "That was spectacular! Bravo, bravo!"

"Thank you Jake... You know, you're the first person I've played in front of so I was a little nervous."

"How did you know that song was one of my favorites?" I asked intrigued as I sat down on the edge of Jill's bed.

"Well, I had your old MP3 player remember – for the experiment?"

"Oh that's right, so you found my list of depressing songs then?" I replied teasingly yet a little embarrassed. "May I have a turn on your guitar?"

"Sure, here you go." Jill said as we stretched towards each other. Grabbing old of the guitar neck, I pulled it close then positioned it on my lap and thought for a second about which song to play.

It's been a while.

"Okay, I've never played before in front of anyone either! But here goes... oh, by the way I won't be singing because well, I can't." I swiftly mentioned before starting to play an acoustic cover of an old "Iron Maiden" song. It felt really good to be playing the guitar riff after a number of weeks of absence from the instrument. The thoughts that crowded my mind dissipated and all I was thinking of was the next chords to play and the next strings to pluck. Minutes later, I finished playing and glanced up a little dizzy at Jill. She stared back at me with a huge beaming smile across her serene face.

"That was awesome Jake! I didn't know you could play like that! We should definitely jam together sometime... We can play some more of your depressing songs and turn them into happy songs!"

* * *

The next day at school I met up with Andy, who had only been back at school for a day and sported a moon boot on one leg and a walking stick under his arm. He now walked awkwardly around in the nearly deserted hallway to meet me as we headed to lunch. His slow pace had made us the last students to enter the cafeteria.

"Good to have you back at school." I said to Andy sarcastically as we walked through the cafeteria doors for our lunch break. "Now I've got someone I can make fun of!"

"Well you certainly sound rather chirpy Jacob... If I had to guess, I'd say Jill is here today?" Andy replied, firmly grabbing his plate of food and walking crookedly towards the back of the cafeteria with me in a close tow. "You better introduce me... Maybe she also has a friend for me to meet? Wink, wink."

We sat at our usual table which was tucked away in the back corner and was shaded from the warming winter midday sun.

"I guess I can ask, but you know it will make you look desperate!" I replied cheekily with a mouthful of French fries.

"Well maybe she has an equally desperate friend?" Andy insisted strongly, nodding his head ever so slightly as he picked up his hamburger and shoved it into his wide gaped mouth.

"Suppose I could ask..."

"Jacob! Is that her?" Andy asked as he pointed towards the entrance door. Pieces of half chewed food slowly dropped from his mouth as his jaw dropped sarcastically.

"Don't point Andy!" I urged reaching over the table pushing his hand away. I shot my head around to the open cafeteria door.

Jill had walked into the large student-filled room with a sense buoyancy, like she was floating forward within a bubble of shielded aura. She glanced over at our table and I gave her a little wave. Jill waved back before joining her friends at the table across the cafeteria on the opposite side right next to the wall of windows. The sun's rays appeared to tenderly halo around Jill.

"Oh I see, yes she is something..." Andy said with his jaw on the table in a sense of bewilderment and I couldn't discern whether he was being sarcastic or not. "But why you? How did you and her... I don't get it!"

"Don't stress your noggin, Andy." I replied mockingly. Sighing, I stared back at Jill who appeared to be in deep conversation with her girlfriends.

"Ah crap!" Andy cursed, breaking my attention away from Jill's table. "I forgot to grab a drink!"

"I'll grab it for you," I said as I pushed my chair back readying to stand up.

"No! No, I've got it… I've been couch ridden the last couple of weeks and the doc says a bit of movement is good for me."

"Okay, suit yourself."

Andy heaved himself off the plastic chair and hopped slowly towards the cafeteria service bar some thirty feet away. In the mean time, I couldn't help but take longing glances at Jill as I finished the rest of my lunch.

On his way back, Andy hobbled back towards our table, walking stick under one arm and a carton of juice in his opposite hand.

"Hey look everyone! Andy's a crippled old fart!" Sam's deep menacing voice echoed loudly throughout the crowded room and the conversations at the lunch tables quickly dwindled down – the cafeteria fell to a dead silent.

Andy had made it halfway back to our table, but now he stood still, frozen in fear. Sam had come out of nowhere, blocked his path and was towering over him in a threatening manner. "What are you looking at… ANDY?" Sam hissed at Andy as he clenched his fists and raised them slowly to Andy's head.

"Leave him alone!" I bellowed out suddenly and unexpectedly, as I stood up from my chair.

"Don't be a hero Jacob!" Sam yelled back angrily casting an intimidating glare at me. "Or you'll be next!"

Adrenaline surged through me and I wanted to lunge forward in an attack towards Sam but at the same time I was locked in fear at what he was physically capable of doing to me, after all he was a lot bigger than me, and everyone else in the cafeteria for that matter.

In a tense-filled moment after an eerie silence had persisted upon the cafeteria, Sam in a brief burst of fury kicked Andy's moon boot from underneath him and as he crashed to the floor heavily, crying out in pain. Sam let out a manic, mindless chuckle and raised Andy's walking stick above his head as though it was some sort of trophy.

Instinctively, I rushed over to Andy's aid but before I could help him up, Sam stepped over me; his tall stocky body blocked out the sun's rays from my view and his face darkened in the shadow but his eyes and teeth glistened forbiddingly.

"If you help him up, I will HIT you over the HEAD. I will knock you the FUCK OUT!" Sam spat from above, wielding Andy's walking stick high above his head readying it to swing at me as if it was a baseball bat. " _Don't be a hero, because you're not Jacob. You are nothing._ "

"Sam" a soft calming voice said from behind Sam as I spotted a hand reach over Sam's broad shoulder. "Sam, what you are doing is not right now is it?"

Sam lowered the walking stick and dropped it on the ground as if he was suddenly dispelled of his hatred and anger and was now partially hypnotized.

"Err, I'm trying to…" he trailed off stuttering, seemingly confused to a small degree.

"What's the point, in your violence?" Jill stepped out from behind Sam as he turned to face her. Jill spoke in a tranquil, perfectly composed voice that had a strong sense of peacefulness that made me feel a little slumber. "Your violence only fuels the things you don't like about yourself… You have the self-control to change Sam. But only you have the reigns of your emotions to steer you through your thoughts and your actions... Choose the right path Sam. You will always have the choice."

Strolling off in a defeated, zombie-like walk, Sam dragged his feet out of the cafeteria.

Shortly after, whispering and murmuring started up again.

"What the hell just happened?" Andy said in amazement at Jill. "How did you do that?"

Jill shrugged her shoulders. "It just kind of happened."

Both Jill and I held out our hands and pulled Andy's lanky body up off the floor.

"Oh… By the way... Jill, please meet Andy and Andy, this is Jill."


	20. Chapter 20 - The Carving and the Kiss

**Chapter 20 – The Carving and the Kiss**

* * *

Christmas day had arrived and temperatures had dropped to freezing now that winter had finally settled in over the state. The view from my bedroom window was one filled with colorfully lit Christmas trees glistening through the neighbors' lounge windows that faced the street. Thick layers of snow covered the house roofs like large white blankets and clumps of ice clung to the bare trees that lined the street making their branches droop under the weight.

The asphalt road itself was covered fully by a sea of snow and it blended almost seamlessly with the surrounding front yards with only a hint of the contrasting concrete curb exposed in random spots underneath. Deepened lines in the snow from car tires ran across and down the street. A group of young kids down the end of the street, all of who dressed in bright colored jackets, were playing in the snow; some were making snow men, while the others were throwing snow balls at each other laughing loudly.

Gazing over to Jill's cozy looking house from my bedroom window, I stared sullenly through their lounge window at their Christmas tree that stood at least 8 feet tall and was dressed in bright Christmas colors. But her house was otherwise dark and empty for her family had left for the Christmas holidays and were visiting relatives that lived a few states across the country in Colorado.

And now feeling lonely and lifeless, I longed for her to come back.

"Jacob sweetie! Lunch is ready!" Stacy, one of my mom's friends called from the floor below.

A friend from my mom's childhood, Stacy had come to stay for the holidays. She lived across the other side of America in San Diego, but was in town for a promotion she was doing and had decided to stay with us for the week. She complained about the cold weather here in Jackson Valley and she spent the week wearing many thick layers of clothes and turning our heater to full bore in an attempt to heat the house. But no matter how high the heater was set to, our house never felt warm.

I headed downstairs and into the treeless lounge.

The Christmas tree hadn't been put up for this year; it was too much hassle to take the tree out of the box only to pack it up a couple of weeks later, and I simply found it near impossible to get into the "Christmas Spirit" after the cruel world made my mom terminally ill and left me Jill-less for the holidays.

Wafts of yummy aromas filled my nostrils and I followed the scent into the dining room where Stacy and my mom were seated at the small table with empty plates in front of them.

"Come, sit down Jake." Stacy croaked and she pushed out the chair perpendicular to hers using her foot from underneath the table.

"Thanks guys," I said limply.

"Well, I'm not waiting for you guys!" Stacy quickly said grabbing the serving spoon that sat in the mash potato and slopping a heap of it onto her plate. "I've got a plane to catch in a few hours and I don't want to feel bloated from all the food I'm about to eat!"

There was a roast turkey in the center of the table that was flanked on one side by a sizable tray of roast vegetables and on the opposite side sat a bowl of salad, mash potato and a jug of gravy. This was a feast only made possible because Stacy had made it.

I filled my plate to the brim and peered over to my mom's plate. She only had a tiny portion of roast vegetables in front of her that she cautiously picked at. She never had much of an appetite these days. After a few bites, my appetite suddenly waned as my thoughts turned to Jill.

* * *

After the Christmas feast, Stacy said her goodbyes and headed off in a rental car to catch her plane to go back to what she called "livable temperatures". After closing the lounge doors in an attempt to heat the room with the small oil heater, Mom and I slumped on the couch and turned the television on. Snow had started drifting around outside and the afternoon light was dying away.

I checked my phone (again) in hope that Jill had texted – but nothing. On her way to their relatives place in Colorado, Jill did text me to say the reception over there was patchy at the best of times as they were surrounded by hills and mountains. I resisted texting her again as I had already sent a couple of messages and had not received anything back. I sighed quietly and sunk deeper into the couch. A Christmas re-run was playing on the television and I struggled to keep my eyes open as I fought the oncoming tiredness. In what seemed like a second later, sleep took over my body and thoughts of Jill took over my mind.

* * *

A week had gone since I'd seen Jill, and although I missed her greatly, she did eventually respond to my text messages to let me know she was having a good Christmas break and hoped that I was enjoying mine.

Today was the last day of December and tonight the town held a New Year's event. For the remaining teens that stayed in Jackson Valley over the Christmas period, this event was the highlight of the holidays. A huge fireworks display was set off at midnight and I would watch it from the upstairs bathroom window.

I'd just shut the door to our empty fridge when a familiar tone rung from my jeans pocket.

Andy: _What are you doing tonight?_

Me: _Not much, you going tonight?_

Andy: _Yep sure am, I'm taking Lucy with me too… We could double date?_

Me: _Can't, Jill's still away… what's this about Lucy?_

Andy: _Yeah! Lucy! Crazy a?! Still can't believe it myself that she said yes... anyway you should still come, you've probably been cooped up in your house too long! Please? You can be my wing-man, keep the conversation going, that sort of thing?_

Me: _Sure._

Andy: _Cheers man, you're the best!_

Me: _Shit! Sorry just remembered I can't come, I'm looking after my mom tonight._

Andy: _Oh sorry man, isn't the nurse there?_

Me: _The hospital charges double over the Christmas holidays and I don't think we can afford it._

Andy: _Oh sorry man. Well, look after yourself. Catch you later._

It was early evening and I stalked mindlessly around the house as I tried to think of something to do for the next few hours. Andy was at the New Year's event, Jill was away and mom had already gone to bed.

I could play some video games, watch a movie, work on my music or go on Facebook but all these options seemed pointless and boring, and no matter how hard I tried to distract myself, my thoughts would sooner or later be painfully drawn back to Jill.

My guitar sat neglected in the corner of my room and was covered in a thin layer of dust. I picked it up, and after giving it a brush off and a quick tune, I started playing a song but stopped from frustration at a lack of emotional engagement.

The memory of Jill playing Radiohead the day we finished our biology experiment suddenly appeared to me (which by the way we got good marks for but it wasn't in the top three for our year so we didn't end up being selected for the state science fair, which was definitely okay by me). I pulled up the song's tab on my laptop screen, and started playing the riff. After a short while, I picked up the pattern and played it fluently over and over, closing my eyes until I imagined Jill was in front of me playing the guitar instead of me. I imagined her heavenly voice singing ever so sweetly, over and over again. I held on to this moment for as long as possible until tears formed and streaked down my cheeks. God I missed her.

Wiping my eyes with the sleeve of my hooded sweater, I peered out the fogged-up window with hungry and longing eyes. The dim light from the street lamps failed to piece through the glass and instead the window reflected me in my sorrowful state. Exhausted, I put the guitar away and collapsed onto my bed.

* * *

I awoke the following morning on New Year's day in a groggy cloud to the sound of my phone vibrating as it received a number of messages all in one batch. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I picked up the phone.

Jill: _Hey Jake, not sure when you'll get this… exciting news! We are packing our bags and will be coming back a day early!_

Jill: _Dad got called in early to work._

Jill: _We're leaving now. Can't wait to see you xoxox_

Although all the messages had just been received, the phone labelled them as having been sent _yesterday_.

That would mean that…

Sitting up rapidly, I scurried to the window and peered out at Jill's house – their house still looked empty but their driveway had tire tracks in the snow that lead up to their garage.

A sudden jolt of liveliness burst through me. I headed downstairs in my dressing gown and wolfed down my breakfast while I pondered what I should text back.

Me: Hey _Jill, good to have you back_

No, delete that.

Me: Hey _Jill, what's up good looking?_

No, that's rubbish. Delete that too.

Me: _Hi Jill, hope the trip back was good. Let me know when you want to catch up._

Yes, that's perfect.

I also thought I'd better text Andy to see how his date went with Lucy.

Me: Hey _Andy, how was last night?_

Andy: _Bro! Made second base! Holy shit!_

* * *

It was yet another few hours of eager waiting and pacing around the house before I received a reply text from Jill but finally my phone chirped away in my hot hand.

Jill: _Hi Jake, sorry, we got home late last night and I've just woken up… Do you have any plans for the day?_

Before I replied, I punched the air in excitement and instantly surveyed the room afterwards to see if anyone had seen my embarrassing outburst.

Me: _Nothing really yet, but I do have a little present for you._

Jill: _Oh exciting! Come over in half an hour k?_ :)

Me: _Okay :)_

The next half an hour went by at an incredibly slow pace. I suspect watching the kitchen clock didn't help.

A minute before the half hour was up, I grabbed the little wrapped boxed gift for Jill and headed outside.

The early afternoon sun beamed out brightly, its glaring rays reflected off the smooth snow covered street. Carefully navigating my way across the icy ground, I made sure I kept Jill's gift level. Just before I reached Jill's front door, it timely opened and Jill popped her head out in a huge smile.

"Hi Jake! How are you?!" she beamed cheerily.

"Good thank you, and how are you?" I replied breathlessly; it was as though the very sight of her sucked my breath straight out of my lungs. I'd forgotten just how stunningly beautiful she was.

"I'm good, I'm good. It's good to see you again!" she replied wrapping her finger around one of her ashy locks.

"You too…" I stepped forward and handed Jill her gift, "Here's your Christmas present, hope you like it… Oh and you've got to keep it upright."

"Thank you Jake! You really didn't have to, please come inside." Jill opened the door wider and I stepped inside, removed my wet shoes and followed her into the lounge where we then sat on the microfiber couch. I was almost breaking out into a sweat from the temperature Jill's house was heated to.

"Should I open it now?" Jill asked me eagerly.

"Um… Yip why not?" I replied nodding.

Jill tore into the wrapping like a vicious animal to reveal a plan cardboard box that had vivid written over it.

Jill read out the note that was written on the outside of the box:

 _Dear Jill, thank you for being with me over the last six months, for putting up with my wavering tempers and overall weirdness. You make me a better person. I hope we continue to be close friends and I look forward to whatever the future holds for us._

"Sorry," I said hastily, slightly embarrassed. "It looked good on paper at the time."

"It's nice Jake, thank you." Jill smiled kindly and peeled back the lid of the cardboard box." Oh wow Jake! It's a light bulb terrarium!" She pulled out a light bulb terrarium and gasped in a varied astonishment, "Is it a – grave yard? Oh my god Jake!"

"Sorry, I thought it would be funny to have it among your bright and lively terrariums. But now I see it was probably a stupid idea. I'm sorry..."

"I love it!" Jill unexpectedly perked up as she turned the light bulb around in her hand and starred at the theme inside the bulb as if studying it intently. "It's very creative Jake! I like the little skeleton hand sticking out of the grave! Thanks for giving me a piece of your creativity Jake."

"Um… Your welcome?" I replied astounded but relieved.

"I'll add your terrarium to the stand later," Jill said as she placed the light bulb back into its box and pushed it underneath the frame of the stand of terrariums that sat on the coffee table. "I'll add a wire over here and put yours there on the very top."

"Okay, now for _my_ surprise Jake… First question is, are you doing anything in the next couple of hours?"

"Ah, let me think – no, nothing."

"Great, okay, um, second question is, do you have a warm jacket you can wear?"

"Ah… yeah."

"Awesome… Okay, third question is, can you meet me out on the street in ten?"

"Okay sure..."

There was a brief, lightly tense moment.

"Oh, you mean now?" I chuckled.

Jill looked at me and nodded not saying a word.

"Okay all good," I started awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you in ten then."

I ran eagerly back to my house slipping on a couple of icy patched on the way. Barely in the house for a minute, I threw on my dark grey canvas winter jacket and headed back outside and sat down on the covered front entrance steps of my house, waiting in anticipation as to what Jill had planned for us.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jill stepped out of her house wearing a backpack and made her way towards me. I hurriedly stood up and ran casually back across the road to met her on the snow covered sidewalk just outside her house.

In contrast to my bland hooded jacket, Jill wore a bright turquoise jacket that was covered in patterns of multicolored triangles and bands, and a thick knitted cream colored beanie that adorned her head.

Jill seemed to struggle with her balance on the ice with the heavy looking backpack.

"That bag looks heavy Jill, pass it here, I'll carry it, turn around." I suggested.

"Thank you Jake," she said breathlessly as she turned her back to me. "I didn't realize the err, things were that heavy."

I pulled the backpack from Jill's petite shoulders and slumped slightly under the weight of the bag.

"Geez, this is heavy! What the hell's inside?" I complained half sarcastically.

Jill looked at me and beamed a cute smile. "It's a surprise, so I can't tell you."

We walked for twenty minutes down the icy road, holding hands, until we got to a line of snow covered trees that bordered one of the town's rivers. A small single lane arch bridge that was made from moss covered stone and rusty looking metal barriers, spanned across the river in one single arch and joined the roads on either side, making the snow covered forest hills on the other side accessible.

Jill stopped at the edge of the bridge and darted her head around between the trees and down the bank towards the river as if she was searching for something.

"What are you looking for? I'm pretty sure there's not much out here Jill." I said peering through the towering trees in search of something out of the ordinary to no avail.

Jill looked back at me and frowned slightly before turning her attention back to the tree trunks. A second later Jill glanced back at me again with renewed excitement. "Over here, we can get down using this path!"

"Um, why are we heading down to the river?" I queried interested yet weary.

"You'll find out soon Jake, come on let's go!" Jill's voice was almost shouting now as she yanked my hand which caused me to almost lose my balance on the slippery sidewalk. As we walked down through the knee height snow that covered the river bank, we soon arrived at the foot of the river with the bottoms of our jeans soaking wet. Standing at the river's edge, Jill turned and gave me a fleeting glance with a devilish look in her eye. "Watch this."

"What are you doing?" I blurted out but it was too late.

Jill dropped my hand and leaped into the glass-like river water.

"Jill!" I yelled in a slight panic as she landed on top of the water as if it was solid.

She turned around and chuckled loudly,"Surprise Jake! The river is frozen."

"Oh ha, ha, very funny Jill," I replied a little humiliated. "Is it safe?"

"Yeah of course it is, look!" Jill replied confidently as she stomped her foot on the ice.

"Alright, okay then." I cautiously stepped out onto the ice and immediately slipped forward but corrected my balance just in time - I had good balance thanks to the years I had spent skateboarding.

"Have you ever been on the ice before Jake?" Jill asked, kneeling down on the ice.

"Um... No not really." I replied coolly.

Lowering myself into a sitting position and removing the burdening backpack, I peered down at the ice and could see the rocks and dead branches lying peacefully undisturbed underneath.

"Open the bag Jake, your surprise awaits you!" Jill said dramatically as though she was acting the part of a queen in a school play.

I unzipped the bag and chuckled as I pulled out two pairs of ice skates.

"Oh I see... Thanks Jill. You know, I've never done this sort of thing before, I guess you'll have to teach me?"

"Yep, of course, I'd love to."

After a ten minute oral lesson on some basic techniques like how to push forward, turn and stop, we ventured down the mirrored sleek surface of the frozen river. So far I had managed to fall on my backside three times, much to Jill's amusement, and now my bottom was numb with the cold and probably bruised. Jill had encouraged me to keep going and we started skating off again, I looked closely at her reflection on the river's surface and compared the way she moved to my uncoordinated body, and then it clicked; what I needed to do was to lean forward, bend my knees and swing my arms. Doing these three things together made a huge difference and I picked up the pace with the new sense of confidence.

"Wow, look at you Jake! You've picked this up really quick!" Jill yelled out from behind me while I skated ahead.

We were covering a bit of distance now and had come to a windy part of the river that hugged the hillside closely. Rocks that stuck up above the ice were starting to become more numerable so I slowed down as I navigated around them, Jill now skated alongside me.

The river started to narrow and incline slightly as it appeared to be heading further into the snow covered forest valley. The sun had fallen behind the hills and had cast us into a chilly shadow of low light that turned the appearance of the pure white snow, slightly blue. The tree trunks and their branches, the parts that were visible through the clumps of snow, eerily darkened, standing out in contrast against the blue tinted back drop. They appeared to have been blackened completely, along with the rocks within the ice.

"We should probably head back," Jill said skating in a circle around me.

"Yeah good idea," I replied turning around with great difficulty but managing to not fall again.

A little urgency helped pick up our pace as we raced back to the bridge before dusk fell upon us, but we had returned much quicker on the return trip nonetheless thanks to my improved skating ability.

"That was heaps of fun!" I said panting as I fumbled with the laces on the skates.

"That's good Jake. I had loads of fun too, watching you fall on your fanny!" she replied jokingly.

Having removed our skates, we put our shoes back on and headed up the river side when Jill suddenly stopped dead near the top of the bank only a foot in front of the tree nearest the bridge.

"I have an idea," she said suddenly. "Turn around."

I nodded willingly and turned around. Jill opened the back pack and pulled out one of the skates, lightening the load on my shoulders by a noticeable fraction.

"What are you doing?" I questioned intrigued as I spun back around.

"You'll see!" she replied as she held the skate with her two hands and started scrapping the tip of the skate's blade into the smooth bark of the tree. After a few minutes Jill had finished whatever she was etching.

"Ta-da!" she said waving her arm out as though she was revealing a treasured piece of art.

She had carved into the tree large initials of "J.R." and below those letters was a roughly etched out shape of half a heart.

"Cute Jill"

"Okay now it's your turn... Complete the puzzle!"

I lightly sighed, stepped up to the tree and grabbed the skate from Jill who now stood off to the side looking away.

"Let me know when you've finished," she said coyly.

After a few minutes, I had finally finished my piece of Jill's puzzle.

"Okay it's done."

Jill turned around and jumped with glee at what had been carved out in the tree. "That looks so good Jake!"

She leaped forward towards me and threw her arms around my shoulders in a jumping hug, but all of a sudden I lost my balance and we both tumbled, wrapped in each others' arms, to the ground sinking a foot deep into the snow. Jill laughed out loud as she lay on top of me, her warmth somehow managing to emit through both our layers of clothing. The bag that was sandwiched between the ground and my back dug deep into my spine, but I didn't care. I stared in absolute awe at Jill's beautiful smiling face that glistened in the last moments of the day's dying light.

"Jill." Her name slipped out as I felt myself losing control of my body. "You are so stunningly gorgeous..."

Her chuckling abruptly stopped as she heard my words and she stared back deeply into my eyes with a vastness of serenity. "Jake – shut up and kiss me."

Jill lowered herself and drew her lips close to mine and stopped in hesitation less than an inch from me. Her breathing became unsteady and fast, so did mine. My heart pounded in my ears. In a tantalizingly desperate moment I urged forward and engaged Jill's soft lips kissing her with an immutable sensuality.

HONK! HONK! HONK!

A truck had driven past with its horn blaring and it's driver whistling out the side of the window at us, but neither Jill or myself had even heard the truck approaching. It felt as if we had been pulled back from across the universe and back to Earth after our brief moment of intimacy. The Earth's burdening gravity now returned with a vengeance and the back pack that jabbed at my spine suddenly hurt again.

After a few joyous moments of staring at each other, Jill smiled softly then pushed herself up off me and brushed the snow off her jacket. I sat up, relieved of the pain in my back and looked up at the etched out tree. The completed carving inscribed into the smooth bark now showed the initials "J.R." and "J.C." that were separated by the outline of a heart; and underneath the initials, four symbols were etched "4eva".


	21. Chapter 21 - The Annual Day of Dread

**Chapter 21 – The Annual Day of Dread**

* * *

Six months had flown past since the best day of my life – New Years day, the day Jill and I shared our first kiss. And these last months had been without a doubt, the best months I'd _ever_ experienced. My grades at school were consistently above average, the bullies had picked on other people rather than me, my music creations were progressing well, and most significantly, Jill and I were officially an item. The whole school knew we were together and miraculously Jill hadn't lost any friends as a consequence. We seemed to have the balance right between spending equal amounts of time with our friends (or friend, singular, in my case) and with each other. Yes, I was still timid and reserved, but I was no longer depressed and sorrowful. My mom was obviously still terminally ill and that hadn't changed, but Jill with her uniquely outward perspective on life had counselled and prepared me for when the inevitable day of her passing arrives. These days were blissfully spent, and I have only Jill to appreciate for it, but I'm still in the dark about why Jill is with me, after all, what is it that I bring to the table in our relationship?

The summer vacation was quickly approaching and every year there was always one last hurdle to wade through before school closed for the long summer break - Prom. There was a month's build up of sickening public shows of affection and "promposals" where everyone was trying to outdo each other. It was bad enough that this was one of the loneliest times of the year for losers like me, but it was also rubbed in my face at an intensified frequency the closer it got to Prom night. The irony is of course is that even if someone asked me to the Prom (even Jill), I'd most likely say no – it's definitely not my thing.

Walking back home after spending the middle of the day hanging out with Andy playing video games, I glanced up breaking my thoughts away from the upcoming prom, and saw that the clouds above had thickened unusually quickly; they appeared to be moving at an unnaturally rapid pace towards me. Rolling thunder sounded in the far distance from the direction of my house. Speeding up my walking to a jog, it now felt an urgency to get home before the vicious looking storm hit, but only seconds later, the heavens opened up in a fury of belting wind and stinging rain. Heavy droplets of rain soaked me thoroughly within a few seconds but I pushed harder and broke into a run.

Finally reaching my house, I rushed to the shelter under the front covered porch and almost tripped over a parcel that had been left at the front of the door, just out of reach of the pouring rain. The impromptu maneuver, to avoid tripping over the parcel, sent me sliding on my wet shoes on the slippery painted floorboards before landing painfully on my backside. I cursed sharply and glanced over at the wrapped parcel that sat innocently undisturbed next to me.

The box had been wrapped in plain brown paper and was bound together by light brown string that had a little tag attached to it that simply said.

 _To J, open with care._

I collected the surprisingly light parcel and carefully stood up before walking into the house fully drenched from the rain. After removing my wet shoes and socks and leaving them messily at the front door, I bolted with the parcel concealed under my arm, past my mom who sat in the lounge, and through upstairs to the upper level.

Heavy rain continually battered the roof and pelted at the window pane, sounding as if multiple pairs of hands were tapping furiously at the glass.

My wet clothes that clung tightly to my body felt nice and cool against the built up heat on the first floor of the house.

Not bothering to change out of the wet clothes, I hastily, but carefully, untied the string that held the parcel together and removed the stiff wrapping paper. Underneath the brown paper, another box revealed itself.

The inner box appeared to be wooden and was lacquered in a pristine pearly white paint. The latch mechanism on top, that kept the lid securely closed, had been sealed shut by a plain red circular wax stamp, and surrounding the latch were gold letters that adorned the message:

 _To Jill_

Someone must have dropped this to me by mistake thinking that this was Jill's place.

Seeing as I was already soaking wet, I collected Jill's gift and headed back downstairs and paused momentarily at the front door. Debating with myself whether or not to put my wet socks and shoes back on before deciding on the latter option, I sprinted across the street to Jill's place.

At the front door, Jill's dad greeted me rather shortly and stared at me with his usual discerning look that always made me feel uncomfortable. He called for Jill to come down, before abruptly turning and walking away without saying another word.

"Don't mind him," Jill reassuringly said after she shut the door behind herself and stood outside under the small covered awning which protected us from the harsh storm. "But you probably shouldn't come inside – you're absolutely soaked!"

"I've just come to give you this..." I said as I handed the gift to Jill and realized that I'd forgotten to wrap the brown paper back over it. "It was left at my front door, but it's addressed to you but it doesn't say who it's from..."

"Oh, okay Jake. Well I might as well open it now I guess?" Jill replied and in a split second later, she had fiercely broken the wax seal and had opened the lid.

"Jake – are you sure you don't know who it's from?" she said as she peered at the contents of the present with a huge smirk on her face.

"Nope, wouldn't have a clue." I replied eagerly trying to spot a glance inside the box. "But why do you ask? What's inside?"

"Have a look for yourself, Jake." she said tilting the opening of the box towards me and spinning it around.

The box appeared to be empty. I leaned forward for a better look and then I saw it. Contrasting against the black interior of the box were the words written in pearly white:

 _Jill,_

 _We have so much fun together. Would you like to go to the prom with me?_

 _Jake._

"This was not me –" I started.

"Of course Jake!" Jill shrieked with excitement, completely ignorant of what I had just tried to say.

"Um, I mean I didn't –" But my protest fell on deaf ears.

"Jake! I would love to go to the prom with you!"

"Okay, um… great…?"

"I was getting a little worried you weren't going to ask me… I mean prom is this week after all!"

Jill nudged me lightly and winked brashly.

I didn't know what to say – I stood there confused, but very had every reason to believe Jill had just set me up.

"Ha ha, Jill I know it was you that –"

"I'm not sure what you mean…" Jill interrupted strongly. She gazed down at her feet and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as if she was cutely hiding something.

I caved into her cute game. "Um okay, I guess I'll pick you up at…?" I asked drawing out the last word, fishing for Jill to complete the sentence.

"Err, seven o'clock this Saturday?" she replied, sounding as though she was slightly caught off guard.

"Cool, I'll see you then, err, then." I replied awkwardly, sheepishly avoiding eye contact with her and brushing my sodden hair once again off my forehead.

"Great!" Jill nodded smiling with a kind of mischievous look that glimmered in her eye.

"Okay, well, I better be, um, going now I guess." I yawned unintentionally before turning around and walking off in a daze and back into the falling sheets of water.

The rain hit me like a brick wall the moment I stepped out of the cover of the entrance way, but I didn't feel any urgency to run back home. However I did feel Jill's roguish eyes tingle on the back of my neck, daring me to turn around, but I didn't indulge in Jill's cute little game as I knew without a doubt, that she had just set me up, and I had easily fallen for her trick and now I would be, in a weeks' time, going to the prom with her.

God she's clever I thought as I walked casually across the wet street and back into my house.

* * *

The next week came to an end and as the prom fever reached its peak, so did my anxiety levels. My only calming factor through the came in the way of Jill's reassuring voice. Attending prom this year would be a milestone for me; after all, I still struggled with large crowds, but struggled a lot more with large crowds that were excessively loud. And this year's prom advertising flyers and posters that had been plastered around the school suggested that a famous DJ was going to be there providing the music. I had to prepare myself.

It was early Saturday evening on the day of the prom, and I had noticed Jill's friends being dropped off by their parents over the course of the afternoon as they converged at her house to get ready for the biggest night of their lives. There must've been at least fifteen girls that had been dropped off so far but I eventually lost count as I dragged my feet around my room in a nervous wreck.

"Bro, it's going to be all good," Andy mentioned from the corner of my bedroom as he sat in a bean bag in his cheesy looking tuxedo while strumming my guitar casually.

Andy had come for lunch and after we had pigged out on pizza, which was a rare treat, we got prepared for the prom in my room.

"You're not seriously wearing that are you?" I mockingly replied standing in front of the mirror correcting my hair. "You know what you look like in your black and white striped tuxedo? – a walking jail!"

"Well it's sure as hell better than what you're wearing!" Andy fired back. "I can't even see you in all your dark emo colors!"

"It's all I've got so I don't really have any other choice, I cannot justify buying a suit for this one stupid night," I replied sharply. "Besides, this is me, black jeans and a black collared shirt."

Andy's phone croaked with a new message. "Lucy just texted, she says we can come over in like ten minutes."

Thumping bass started booming loudly from across the road and Andy got up off the bean bag and walked to the window where we both peered out to see what the sudden commotion was about. Through the large lounge windows of Jill's house, we could see a group of girls dancing around in their shiny and colorful prom dresses.

"Ha ha look at them go!" Andy hooted.

I scanned the packed lounge but I couldn't spot Jill.

A long white Hummer limo that looked like an enormous sausage dog rolled to a stop outside the partying house.

Jill's parents were kind enough to pay for the limo hire for the night, and although the girls were meeting their dates at the venue, Andy and I were allowed to ride shotgun in the limo, separated from the girls of course. This was a small sacrifice because the only alternative was to drive my mom's embarrassingly old and shitty 1984 Toyota Celica as Andy was banned from driving his parent's car.

One of the dancing girls spotted the limo and alerted the others and within a few seconds, they all let out loud shrieking screams of excitement.

"Come on man, let's head over!" Andy said, itching to leave.

We collected our essentials and headed downstairs and through the lounge, where my mom mentioned in passing how lovely we looked and mumbled something about me looking like my father. I ignored her comment and gave her a quick peck on her forehead before Andy and I headed out the front door and to the waiting limo.

"Wow this thing is MASSIVE!" Andy shouted out with an ungoverned enthusiasm as he cupped his hands to the tinted windows and peered in. "They've got like a fifty inch TV in there! And these rims they must be like 24 inches!"

The thumping music abruptly stopped and the front door of Jill's house burst open; a rush of teenage girls ran out screaming in a parade of smacking heels and colorful dresses. A middle section of the side of the limo broke away and lifted into the air, pivoting around the roof like gull wing door; it looked like it would be more suited on a space ship than on a limo.

"WOW!" Andy exclaimed biting his fist.

The girls started piling into the limo eagerly, one by one.

Lucy tapped Andy on his shoulder with a frustrated expression on her sunken fair freckled face.

He turned around, his smile quickly disappeared and his jaw dropped open at the sight of Lucy, but I couldn't tell if it was because of the way Lucy was dressed in her dark navy dress or if it was because he was in trouble for paying the limo more attention than he did to her. I guessed it was the latter.

"Lucy, you look stunning!" Andy said grovelling slightly.

"Well, you look nice Andy, but you kind of look like the Hamburglar in that suit," she scoffed eyeing Andy up and down, frowning.

I snickered loudly at Lucy's hilarious comment, but she then glared at me with her piercing eyes.

"At least he's wearing a suit, Jacob." she snarled.

Andy starting smiled mockingly at me, while Lucy had her back turned him, but Lucy must have eyes in the back of her head, because without even looking back at Andy, she slapped him in his chest as she turned and strutted off into the limo.

"Man, she's one hell of a woman!" Andy said dreamily.

"She sure is," I chuckled.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket. It was Jill.

Jill: _I'm_ _having a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, but nothing major. Please tell the others to go otherwise they're going to be late. You should go too, have a nice ride in the limo!_

Me: _I will tell the others, but I will wait for you._

"Jill and I are going a bit later," I said to Andy as I slipped the phone back into my pocket. "But she has just text to say that you guys should leave now."

"You're still coming in the limo though right?" Andy replied keenly.

"No, but that's okay." I said pushing Andy to the front of the limo. "You have fun."

"Okay man," he replied shrugging before opening the front limo door and stepping inside. "See you at the prom."

I walked around the front of the limo and informed the driver that they were all ready to go, and with that, the doors clicked shut, muffling out the girls shrieking, and the Hummer grumbled away down the road and out of sight.

"Jacob!" a raised but formal voice said from the entrance door, striking my attention. It was Jill's dad. "Come inside son."

He ushered me inside and into the lounge where we both sat opposite each other on the micro-fiber sofas. He stared at me sternly and rubbed his chin as though he was attempting to read my thoughts and intentions.

"So Jacob, tell me, what do you expect from Jill tonight?" he asked, his voice perfectly composed.

"Just to have some fun, dancing and socializing I guess." I replied as confident and as respectful as possible.

Narrowing his eyes, he hardened his gaze at me. I'd never felt so uncomfortable in my life.

Where is Jill? How long is she going to be?

Suddenly, as though he had found what he'd been looking for, his overly discerning look softened and he glanced down at my shirt.

"Do you have a suit son?" he asked with a lightened tone.

"No, um, this is the best I've got, sorry." I replied a little discouraged.

"Tell you what Jacob, you can wear one of my blazers," he insisted as he raised himself off the chair. "Hmm, yes, I think grey would suit what you're wearing... I'll be back shortly." He nodded at himself approvingly and walked away. A minute later he returned holding a grey blazer and gestured me to stand up and turn around; he slipped the jacket over my arms and up to my shoulders before spinning me around again to face him. "It's a little big, but it's passable."

"Thank you," I replied graciously.

"I'm not doing it for you son, I'm doing it for my daughter… I want her date to look good, for her."

"Okay, she's ready!" Jill's mom shouted from the stairs above.

Mr Rothwell and I eagerly walked over to the stair landing and waited.

My heart thudded irregularly in my chest and a ringing developed in my ears. The room suddenly felt cramped.

I had to remember to breath. Anxiously, but patiently, I waited for Jill to walk down in her prom dress.

"Hi Jacob!" Jill's sweet voice echoed from the top of the stairs.

"Hi Jill!" I replied hastily cocking my head around to catch an impossible glimpse.

From where I was standing, I could only see the bottom half of the staircase through the balustrade. And the first I saw of Jill as she silently approached the halfway point of the stairs was her flat-soled pearly white shoes that curled with her toes as she took her next step.

Then the bottom half of the dress that went up to her waist revealed itself to be as pearly white as the shoes, but sparkled with a million crystals that were scattered randomly around the prestigious fabric of the swaying dress. The bodice was unveiled to be a creamy white floral-laced chiffon, formal and elegant with a hint of hipster – perfectly Jill.

Jill's beautiful face came into view and she had the biggest smile I'd ever seen. She had, thankfully, hardly any make up on – she didn't need any anyway. Her ash blonde hair was partially tied up in a wispy bun; perfectly formed plaits embellished the middle of her head, and curved licks of hair fell along side her slightly rosy cheeks.

"Hi, Jacob." Jill said with a beaming smile, but I hadn't registered that she was now suddenly standing in front of me. "Jacob?"

"Sorry. I was just taken aback by how um, beautiful you look." I replied almost gasping for breath.

"Thank you Jake. You look beautiful too," she said slowly. "Nice jacket." She then turned to her dad who was gazing at her with an utter look of ill-realization that she was not a child anymore. "Hi dad. Can we please borrow the car?"

"Sure, here you go," he stammered without a hint of hesitation, pulling the keys from his pocket and placing them into Jill's outstretched palm. "Drive safe, and be home at a reasonable hour."

"Thank you guys, we'll be safe." Jill replied hastily.

"Have a good time my sweetie," Mrs Rothwell said quickly, kissing Jill lightly on her cheek.

I followed closely behind Jill as we entered the garage where two cars sat, a small blue BMW 3-series and a white Chrysler SRT8. Both were late model cars and either of them would be more than adequate to take to the prom, but Jill headed straight for the Chrysler.

After climbing carefully into the cream-colored leather seat, Jill started the motor, burbling its eight cylinders to life. She was clearly in a rush as she reversed out of the driveway and down the road all before I could manage to click my seat belt in.

Jill intensively concentrated on the road as she sped towards the proms venue at the Old Town Hall that was situated on the outskirts of the town.

"Sorry Jake, hope my driving is okay... I don't normally speed like this." she said with her eyes locked on the road ahead of us.

"No it's all good," I replied suppressing the joyous feeling of freedom that currently surged through me.

* * *

What felt like a short time later, we arrived at the prom venue where Jill steered the car into a reserved parking spot which was at the bottom of the steps that lead up to the Hall's grand entrance. I jerked forward, then backwards suddenly, as Jill braked hard and the car squealed to an abrupt stop. She turned to me and smirked cheekily. "We've made it!" And with that said, we both hopped out of the Chrysler and jogged up the fountain of concrete steps.

I gazed up and couldn't fathom how such a huge brick building was built to such a high level of detail so many decades ago. The orange brick building had been used as a venue for weddings and proms for the last century but prior to that, according to the school history lessons, it was used as a meeting point for the Town's elite.

One of the school teachers stood by the huge front wooden double doors to usher us into the lobby area beyond where couple photos were being taken.

"You're just in time," Mr Porter said looking up from the view finder of the camera that sat on a tripod after he'd just taken a picture of another prom couple. "Come over and stand over here where the feet marks are on the ground."

"This is why I was in a hurry Jake – I didn't want to miss out on our picture," Jill whispered as we stepped up to the markers on the ground. I cocked my head around and saw that the back drop was a huge fairy light wall that spanned almost the entire length of the lobby.

"Okay ready, in three, two, and one –" the teacher bellowed out from behind the camera. And just before the picture was taken, Jill leaned into me, wrapped her arms around my waist and dug her finger into the side of my ribs in an attempt to make me laugh. It worked.

"All these portraits are being printed out and posted on the first wall on your left when you walk into the main hall. Here are a couple of tokens each. Write on the blue token who you want to win prom king; the pink one is for prom queen. Then place your token into the box underneath the pictures and during the night they will be tallied up and the winners will be announced before the formal dancing begins. Good luck you two." Mr Porter nodded kindly, unscrewed the camera from the tripod then strolled over to the other teacher who stood by the front door.

I glanced worryingly at Jill and sighed deeply as I prepared myself for the crowded room ahead of us.

"You'll be okay," Jill said grabbing my hand. "Come on"

We walked through the swing doors and into the main hall.

Concrete pillars outlined the room and they extended up all the way to the top of the ceiling some twenty feet high.; maroon tapestry hung between the gaps between the stone columns. A sea of round tables and seats that were covered with white linen were spread out across the entire hall except for areas at the front and rear of the room that had been left open. There was a raised stage at the front of the room where large speakers and an unoccupied DJ desk sat. Pop music played quietly in the back ground from numerous speakers that were positioned around the hall.

"Jill!" A girl shrieked loudly above the murmuring discussions from around the other tables, "We're over here!"

We sat down at the one of the round tables with some of Jill's friends. Not really knowing any of them, I struggled to strike up any conversation over the course of dinner and as the night progressed into the dancing and socializing stages, I well and truly felt out of my depth. The music progressively thumped more intensely in my brain and the urges to escape and run out of the building got stronger as the night wore on. I was almost at my tipping point.

"Hey Jake, how are you doing?" Jill asked as she came back to our table from the dance floor sipping on her bottle of water. She and her friends had been dancing for the last hour and she had worked up a bit of a sweat. Jill never asked me to dance with her, she knew it wasn't my thing; she was so understanding, but I felt as though I had let her down and I couldn't help but wonder yet again why she was with me.

Glancing away from her in self-disappointment, I peered up along the surface of the sculptured pillars. "Not so good, feeling trapped."

"That's okay, did you want to go outside and get some fresh air?" she asked placing the now empty water bottle on the table.

I nodded.

Jill grasped my hand tightly and we walked outside to the rear of the building to the manicured gardens that were lit up by thoughtfully placed spot lights. A moon-lit large field stretched out about a hundred yards into the distance and beyond that appeared to be the bordering forest.

"Is this better for you?" she asked caringly, turning to look at me with her sincere crystal eyes.

"Much better thank you." I sighed in relief. "It's beautiful out here."

"Yeah it's very nice..." Jill trailed off unexpectedly falling into a deep thought.

"What's on your mind, Jill?" I asked.

"I've got an idea – follow me" she replied suddenly, grabbing my hand and pulling me into a light jog.

I chuckled out loud. "Where're we going?"

"We've got to be quick otherwise one of the teachers will spot us."

We ran out past the open field hand in hand and into the woods, stopping just within the shadows under the trees. The bass still thumped from across the field but the Hall's thick walls managed to subdue most of it.

Jill glanced back at the Old Town Hall. "No one can see us now, but where was that path?" she trailed off again glancing around the darkness with her arms outstretched trying to find something. "Ah here it is!" she said in excitement as she stretched out and grabbed my hand; pulling me deeper into the woods Jill placed my hand on what felt like a steel wire.

"What are we touching?" I asked concernedly.

"It's an old wire fence, it leads to a special place." she replied looking back at me; only her white teeth were marginally visible through the thick layer of darkness.

After following the wire fence in almost pitch blackness for about ten minutes, we slowed our pace and I peered through the tree trunks in the near distance where I could see a soft glow of light.

"And we're here, but careful Jake, there's a bit of a sudden drop beyond the rocks." Jill mentioned as the ground underneath our feet turned from dirt to stone.

I breathed in deep and took in the spectacular surroundings as we broke past the darkness of the tree tops and out into a moon-lit opening. We stood on a large smooth flat rock in a small clearing that bordered what appeared to be a small cliff. A fig tree clung to the side of the rock and partially sheltered the open area. To my left, the town's lights shone a warm golden yellow and to my upper right, the stars gleamed vividly against their black canvas.

"This place is amazing!" I gasped to Jill. "How did you find it?"

"Well, when we first moved here, my dad took us around the town for a history lesson and one of the points of interest was this place. I was bored so I wondered off and found this fence and from the old aerial photos that were displayed in the Hall, it showed a cliff nearby with clearing. So I just wondered along the fence and it lead me here. It's stunning during the day, you can see the sweeping forest hills for miles, but at night it's something else. It's breathtaking."

Jill lowered herself until she lay on her back on the stone – I did the same and lay next to her rubbing my arm up against hers. We stared up at the moon and stars above us for what seemed like hours, talking about our childhoods and what we hoped for our futures. It all seemed so surreal.

Our childhoods were eerily similar and although we seemed to both want the same things for our futures, like to get married and have a family, Jill also really loved to help others. She shared with me how she would spend her Christmas holidays in the hospital cheering up sick kids and the elderly, and Thanks Giving was spent feeding the homeless. She labelled it soul-enriching and suggested that I should try it one day. I consoled in her as I opened up about my struggles with my mom's illness and how my life felt stagnant and without purpose until she came into my life. We pondered for while in silence, then all of sudden, Jill rolled on top of me.

"What are you…?" I started, but Jill hushed me before sensually pinning her index finger on my lips.

"Shh… Quiet," she whispered as if she had heard someone close by.

But then she relaxed and lowered her upper body placing her petite weight on top of me. Softly, she pressed her lips against mine. We kissed gently and slowly at first but an overwhelming urge progressively flooded my bodily chemicals as Jill slowly writhed voluptuously on top of me, our kisses becoming strong and indulgent. By this point we were both heavily aroused, but then Jill unexpectedly pulled away from me and rested on her knees over my legs.

Her demeanor had all of a sudden dropped.

"What's wrong?" I asked worryingly. "We don't have to do anything tonight if you don't want to."

Jill looked at me with an angst I'd never seen on her before. She remained silent.

"There is no rush," I added. "No rush at all."

"We should go back," she insisted in a joyless voice as she raised herself off my lap. "It's probably really late, people will probably start noticing we're not there."

"Okay…" I replied standing up hastily. "Please tell me what's wrong though."

Jill turned cold and headed into the forest with me closely behind. We followed along the wire fence much more quickly than before and stumbled over the exposed roots more frequently before we managed to get to the open field at the rear of the Old Town Hall, where Jill suddenly broke out into a frantic run with her dress frittering behind her. I gave chase and half way across the moon-lit field, I managed to sprint past her where I then turned and held my hands up grabbing her tightly by the shoulders and slowing her down to a stop.

"Please – stop – Jill –" I panted. "Please – what – is – going on?"

"I'm – I'm – going…" she started between gasps.

"You – know – you – can – tell – me!" My panting subsided to a heavy breathing.

"I'm… I'm – going away – overseas, for six months." Jill stuttered between breaths, her face was ill-stricken with worry.

"Oh." I replied taken aback and stunned, feeling my heart sink deep into my stomach as a huge dread descended on me. "Where… Where are you going?"

"Syria." she replied flatly. "In the Middle East"

"Syria – why would you be going to dangerous place like that?" I asked releasing Jill from my grip and turning back to head to the Hall in a dazed, staggered walk.

I gazed senselessly through the Hall windows and realized that the place was now empty and all its lights had been turned off. The prom had concluded, but that was the least of my worries.

"My parents signed up for the 'Doctors Without Borders Organisation'" Jill rasped and cleared her throat. "And they really needed help in one of the refugee camps."

"Can't you stay behind?" I questioned assertively. "I mean, they're putting you at risk!"

"I wish I could, but I'm torn. I want to stay with you, but I know there are kids there that also need my help Jake, I'm really sorry." she paused as we approached the rear door of the Hall. "Six months is a long time, but at least there's an end date to look forward to."

"When did you find out this was going to happen?" I sniffled suppressing the flood of tears. "And when are you leaving?"

"Um we leave on Monday…" Jill hesitated briefly "…and my parents told me about the plan a week ago."

"…A week ago! Why didn't you tell me?" I protested, clearly upset. The world around me began to spin.

"…Because I wanted us to enjoy tonight." she replied in tears. "Now everyone's gone and we're both upset."

We lumbered our way around to the front of the building and down the grand stairs to the car in a numb silence.

"There you two are!" a familiar voice broke out through the still night air. "I've had to stay behind because of you two!"

I turned around and saw Mr Henry standing at the left of the base of the stairs. Too wrapped up in our dire sadness, we hadn't seen him on our way past.

"Sorry sir" I replied autonomously. "We were just…."

"It's okay Jake, you two drive back home safely and have a good summer break." Mr Henry smirked and walked off towards the car park further down the road.

The drive home was the most awkward moment I'd ever endured. Being angry at Jill was pushed aside by the overwhelming woefulness that stirred within me at the thought of not seeing her for the next six months. Sure, it was only six months but _any_ amount of time away from Jill felt like a state of perpetuity.

Half way home and absorbed in my cauldron of thoughts, I had stared out the side mirror at a pair of trailing lights and became suspicious of this vehicle as it had seemingly followed us from near the prom venue; but my suspicion quickly waned as it was engulfed with thoughts full of angst about the next couple of days when Jill would be departing.

We finally got to our dimly lit street and Jill pulled the car into her driveway. As we waited for the automatic garage door to open, I turned my gaze around back to the street just in time to see it. The ominous, long black, fully tinted car that had haunted me in the past rolled slowly past Jill's house as if whoever inside was surveying us closely. A burdening disquiet enfolded me as my eyes gazed weakly at the car's soulless windows.

Was I seeing things? Was this stressful situation causing this apparition to reappear?

"I think that car had followed us home." Jill quietly mentioned as she steered the car into the garage.


	22. Chapter 22 - Abandonment

**Chapter 22 – Abandonment**

* * *

BANG – BANG – BANG –!

"What!" I groaned, half asleep. "Why are you knocking on my door for?" I glanced at the time on my phone's screen, "….at four in the morning on the first day of spring break!"

It was dark in my room. The early morning sun was yet to pierce through the gaps in the curtains and the birds hadn't started cawing yet. Steady rain lapped at the window.

The knocking suddenly stopped. "You need to get up and dressed, _now_ Jacob!" the shift nurse urged loudly opening my bedroom door ajar, allowing the light from the hallway to beam into the room. "It's your mom. She's taken a turn for the worst, and I've called an ambulance which should be here any minute now. Quickly get dressed. We'll follow the ambulance to the hospital."

"Is she going to be, alright?" I asked in a panic, now feeling suddenly wide awake.

"I'm afraid…" the shift nurse trailed off and her silhouetted head shook slowly. "No, I don't know, just get ready as fast as you can."

Halfway through changing out of my sleepwear and into clothes, the ambulance arrived, it's flashing lights beamed through the thin curtains, lighting up my room and casting moving shadows. Pulling my shirt over my head just as the paramedics reached my mom's room, I burst through my bedroom door and ran across the blindingly lit hall to where the ambulance staff had gathered.

The paramedics had put my mom, who appeared unconscious, on a stretcher and as one medic strapped her to the stretcher frame, the other placed a mask over her face and held up an IV bag. They wheeled the stretcher quickly down the stairs, through the lounge and outside. I desperately trailed behind them trying to get a closer look.

"MOM! MOM!" I kept shouting out, but she did not response. The paramedics were the only ones to hear my cries but I couldn't absorb what they were saying to me – my head felt like it was in a thick cloud of fog.

All I could do was to stare in a muddled disbelief as I now stood in the rain, and while the paramedics wheeled my helpless mom away and into the back of the ambulance, I remained numb, frozen from a refusal to accept that what was happening in front of me was truly my reality.

"Jump in the car, Jacob" the nurse said hurriedly as she stepped in front of me blocking my view of the closing ambulance doors. "We'll meet your mom at the hospital. Everything will be okay."

I brushed off the nurse's shallow promise and dazedly entered her little white hatchback.

* * *

We followed the flashing lights of the ambulance through the wet and darkened morning, and about twenty nerve-racking minutes later, we had finally arrived at the hospital and parked behind the wet ambulance under the covered lobby.

Emergency staff rushed out to the ambulance and swiftly pulled the wheeled stretcher out of the back, onto the ground and through the large glass entrance doors with my mom firmly strapped in. I ran closely behind following them into the lobby where the medical staff wheeled the stretcher through a pair of thick swing doors, but before I made it through these doors, one of the staff glanced back with their hands out stretched toward me. "Sorry son, you can't come through here, but trust me, we'll do everything we can for your mom. Please wait here." The doors shut and the locked with a clunk. Staring hopelessly through the small square windows of the swing doors the medical staff disappeared down the brightly let hallway and around a corner.

"Jacob," the shift nurse cautiously said as I felt her hand grasp my trembling shoulder from behind. "Your mom's in good hands now – I promise they'll do everything medically possible to help her."

"SHE'S TERMINALLY ILL!" I snapped out angrily. "AND SHE'S GOING TO DIE!"

The nurse's hand abruptly released off my shoulder and I could hear her feet shuffling away from me.

"Don't make promises…" I scolded turning to face her. "…you cannot keep!"

"I'll be back, please just, err, wait around here."

She headed to the nearest door that was labelled "staff only", swiped her card which opened the door with a beep, and disappeared behind it without looking back at me.

My chest heaved up and down rapidly with the built up tension and my breathing felt short and restricted but I managed to shuffle across the lobby to sit down on one of the flimsy plastic chairs that were against the walls in the corner of the hospital's dull, colorless lobby.

The shift nurse returned with a flannelette blanket that she quickly handed to me before scurrying off behind the "staff only" door without saying a single word. With all that was happening around me, I hadn't noticed that I was shivering from being stuck in my rain-soaked clothes. The blanket did little to comfort me as I waited, but it did provide a little warmth over my back. Hunching over as I sat on the hard chair, I looked down at the cream lino. Drips steadily fell from my face and pattered on the ground; I didn't know if it was the rain water dripping off my face or if it was the tears that trickled from my eyes, or both but either way, I had dauntingly come to the realization that my mom was close to passing.

"Are you, um, Jacob Chase?" asked a gravelly voice from above me.

"Yes," I replied hoarsely, glancing up wearily.

"Sorry about the long wait…"

The man that had addressed me was covered in a clean lengthy white collared coat and held a clipboard in one hand. He gazed across at me over his thin framed square glasses briefly before glancing back at his clipboard.

"Hmm, okay... I'm doctor Carter. Walk with me, please…" he uttered, his stare fixed on the clipboard. Turning around he then stepped away in a lumbered walk.

I sighed deeply, wiped my face with the blanket, then stood up off the chair and followed behind the doctor. He led me through the large swing doors, down the bleach-smelling hallway and into an empty reception area.

"Jacob, I wanted to talk to you about your mom." The doctor mentioned as he put the clipboard down on the reception desk and took his glasses off. He rubbed his fingers between his eyes – he was clearly worn out, probably from working overnight. "You come across to me as someone smart and understanding, so with that in mind, I'll be direct and plain about the condition of your mother. Is that alright with you Jacob?"

I choked on my words but managed to nod instead, which seemed to be enough of a response for the doctor.

"Alright... Good." he acknowledged clearing his throat and rubbing his eyes once more. "As you know, your mother has been suffering from a currently unknown form of disease that closely resembles a type of cancer. We tried all the treatments currently available but none of them had any affect. What we do know Jacob is that this cancer has slowly killed off the cells in your mother's body, but this sub-type of cancer, we don't quite have a name for it yet, seems to use the dead cells to strengthen itself, however I'd imagine that after a certain time after the host dies, the cancer will die too."

"Um, okay, I'm not really sure what you're saying–" I stuttered in a haze.

"Sorry Jacob. What it all means is that your mom doesn't have very long to live, a day or two at the most. I'm very sorry son, I wish there was more that we could do for her, for you."

None of this felt real..

"Can I, see her?" I replied quivering.

"Ah, yes you can. She is just through in that room over there." The doctor pointed to a door that had a white board fixed to it and written messily in black was my mom's name " _Wendy Chase"._

"But just be prepared – she is hooked up to a number of machines and she is not conscious."

I breathed in deep and headed to the door. Opening it hesitantly I was struck by the harsh early morning sun that streaked through the window blinds from straight ahead of me. Gazing to the right, I saw my mom who was covered in hospital labelled linen as she lay seemingly asleep on the bed. Both of her arms lay along her sides outside the sheets had tubes sticking out of them. Other tubes entered into her mouth and nose. A machine to my mom's left beeped steadily.

"I know it looks scary son, but all these machines and tubes are helping her," the doctor said from behind. I hadn't registered that he'd followed me into the room. "If you need anything, one of the nurses will be just outside at reception." The doctor then walked out of the room slowly shutting the door behind him.

* * *

For hours I had been sitting watching my mom's near lifeless body breathe weakly.

The steady rhythm of her breathing; up, down, up down. Over and over.

Her skin had turned a stark white, almost translucent color and her blue veins were becoming more pronounced underneath.

Suddenly my phone lightly buzzed in my pocket. I leaned forward, pull the phone out and gulped coarsely.

"Oh fuck!"

"New Message from Jill," it read on the lit up screen.

My stomach dropped as I remembered she was leaving today.

Jill: _Hi Jake, we're about to board the plane… Guess you're still too angry to talk to me, to say goodbye._

Me: _No… Jill… I'm not angry, my mom, she's..._ I started to write out my hastened text reply to Jill but before I had a chance to finish it – an abrupt knock rattled the hinges on the room's door.

"Come in," I wheezed, feeling dreadful about Jill's text.

A steady light tapping of footsteps entered the room but I didn't bother to look up as I struggled to finish my text. In my peripheral vision I saw a pair of glimmering black shoes walk around to the other side of the bed, where my mom lay.

"Jacob," a silvery disembodied voice softly spoke from across the bed.

Glancing up almost hypnotically from exhaustion, I realized that the man who now stood in the room, who was dressed in a straight hooded black robe and a large rimmed black hat, must've been a priest of some kind that had come to try and comfort me. He stood maybe a brush over six feet tall, had very dark lengthy hair, stubble on his face, and dark sunken eyes that appeared to be chasms full of remiss.

"Don't bother," I remarked harshly. "I don't believe in your cruel God, or any god for that matter, especially after what he's done to my mom."

With his eyes locked with mine, the man's expressionless face nodded but he remained silent.

"Why would God do this good people?" I raised my voice that was now streaked with a thick frustration. "Why? What has my mom done to deserve this?"

The man's eyes faltered slightly with a certain conviction and as he stepped out of the sun, he removed his hat, baring the top of his messy, almost wavy shoulder length hair.

"Jacob," the priest's began velvety. "Sometimes paths are created by people for not themselves to walk down, but for others, to lead these other souls to discover where their own path must then be built."

"I don't get it, but it sounds like a load of shit to me." I replied resentfully.

The man gently smiled, as if to deflect my remark, put his hat back on and sauntered out of the room.

I frantically finished the text to Jill and hit the send button, but just as my text had sent, I received another message from Jill.

"Sorry Jake, this will be my last text, the plane is taking off now – please wait for me."

I squeezed my phone indignantly as if trying to crush it between my fingers. The urge to smash the phone on the ground was difficult to resist, but I grunted loudly and stuffed the phone back in my pocket.

When I was going to next be in contact with Jill? In six months time? Six months felt like an eternity.

A short moment later, a nurse came in to check the equipment that monitored my mom's vital signs and scribbled on the clipboard that hung off the end of the large hospital bed. I was still peeved off at the religious intrusion that had interrupted my last text to Jill and was sure that the priest was going to return at my mom's dying hour for more lecturing. I loathed at the thought.

"Sorry, nurse?" I asked, surprised at how raspy my voice had become.

"Yes dear?" she replied gently.

"Can I please request, no wait, can I strongly _insist_ that no religious people like priests enter this room again? We're not religious people" my voice came out unintentionally commanding.

The nurse stopped dead, her face stared back at me blankly. "Sorry dear, I don't understand what you mean – we don't usually have chaplains in here, unless requested by the patient's family."

"Then who was – ?"

* * *

"Sorry for the delay everyone. Let's get started. Wendy Chase sadly passed away peacefully at her only child's side three days ago in hospital. She had battled with cancer and although she fought as hard as she could, the disease sorrowfully won." the clergywoman said monotonously as she talked into a microphone from behind the intricately engraved lectern. "She had worked previous to her illness in the advertising industry and she was much loved around the office, with some colleagues labeling her as the 'office mother'."

My mom's funeral was frustratingly held in one of the Jackson Valley's old churches. Neither my mom nor I were religious people, and as I was the only living relative, I would have thought most of the plans for the funeral would have been up to me, but as it turned out they weren't; this was due to me being a minor.

I guessed family members to the deceased normally sat in the front pew during a funeral, but for me I opted to sit alone, in the back corner, away from the small handful of unrecognizable adults who were scattered around the front row of pews. I didn't know them and I didn't want their empty condolences. My guess is that they were old work colleagues from some years ago who were only here because they felt obligated to come. The only familiar face was Stacy, mom's only true friend.

As the delayed memorial service came to an end, the small group of attendees yawned and stretched out of their seats and headed towards the rear of the church.

Thankfully no one paid me much attention as they walked past me, other than the odd quick scattered glance. It didn't matter anyway because I turned away from their fake pitiful smiles and peered up at the towering stain glass window on the wall above me. Steady rain gently trickled down the colorful glass that depicted Jesus, who appeared to be weeping as the rain drops slide down his face.

The burial service was hauntingly solitary. The pallbearers were the funeral staff and after they had carried my mom's coffin to her burial plot, they abruptly left to seek shelter from the rain. Only the clergywoman and I stood by the six foot deep rectangular grave. Black umbrellas that held in our hands were the only thing that sheltered us against the wet skies. And as the coffin was slowly lowered down into the hole, the clergywoman was mumbling some words from the bible but I could barely hear them over top of the rain that tapped loudly on my umbrella and on the coffin lid.

Why hadn't Stacy waited? She said she had to rush off at the end of service to catch the plane back to work; her excuse being that the airport was close to delaying flights due to the worsening weather. Bullshit.

As my mom reached her final resting spot, the clergywoman glanced up at me and smiled; she then turned her back to me and slowly wandered off.

"Sorry son, I'm going to need you to stand back," a gentle, rusty voice suddenly sounded from across my mother's grave.

I took a sluggish step back and gazed up to see a weary old man dressed in a heavy green rain coat. The hood of his coat was drawn and his long scraggly grey beard protruded out into the rain. He sat on a small tractor that had its front loader raised up and was full with dirt. In my hazy fog of thoughts I hadn't even heard the tractor approach.

"Thank you, son." he said with a nod before starting the tractor. He then slowly tipped the large bucket of dirt into my mother's grave. The dirt dropped heavily on the coffin lid with a sickening thud. I struggled with the comprehension of the reality that my mom was really gone and that she wasn't going to be walking with me back to the car or coming back home with me.

She was undoubtedly and irrevocably, gone.

And so my life had descended in a forlorn spiral to this – abandonment.


	23. Chapter 23 - The Months of Agony

**Chapter 23 – THE MONTHS OF AGONY**

* * *

The wet drive home from my mother's funeral in her old Toyota was reckless; the car's tires were bald; the wind screen wipers were ineffective; and the brakes barely functioned. Not only that, I drove with a blinding anger. Almost clipping a couple of parked vehicles down my street, I pulled the car roughly up my driveway; pressing hard down on the brake pedal, I stopped only inches from the garage door.

"Ah, fuck it," I muttered to myself deciding not to park the already soaking wet and rusty Toyota into the garage. It seemed like way too much effort to open the garage door in the rain.

Instead, I got out of the car and ran inside, not bothering to lock the piece of junk up.

The interior of the house felt damned and desolately cold as I stepped through the front door and froze in thought, the only sound my ears could pick up, other than the usual ringing, was the whirring and grinding from the fridge's compressor.

Now what?

The last three nights worth of dinner dishes were piled up on the coffee table in the lounge and an overflowing basket of dirty laundry sat on the floor.

I can't face this right now.

Defeated and exhausted from my mom's funeral service, I headed upstairs to my room, sat in front of the computer screen and logged into Facebook to check if there had been any activity on Jill's page. It'd been days – yet still no word from her.

God! We left on such bad terms.

Slumped over in my chair, I started a new composition, and within a couple of hours and a bag of chips later, I had finished it. Playing it back to myself for the first time in its entirety, I realized that it was chasm-deep in despair and much darker than I had anticipated.

Anyone that hears this song will immediately fall sick with depression.

And with this thought, I moved the music file, named "Jill and I, Forever and Eternity", into the recycling bin and surrendered for the day, collapsing onto my bed and falling into a longingly tearful sleep.

* * *

 **Month 1 –**

...Nothing from Jill...

...Nothing at all...

No reply from Facebook, twitter or text. I yearned to hear her angelic voice again, even if it was just for a few – precious – _seconds_.

This month disappeared slowly and painfully. Most of the hours were dwindled away either watching horror movies or sobbing from withdrawals and loneliness. I couldn't even hang out with my only friend Andy – he was on his annual family vacation at the lake (he had text me and suggested I drive up to the lake cabin but it was too far away and I doubted my mom's old Toyota would even make it there before breaking down), and there was no one else, absolutely no one. I was completely alone.

Only the bare minimum of house chores had been done, and so far, the only changes I'd noticed from not doing them was the layer of dirt and fluff that had started to accumulate on the carpet, the scarcity of clean dishes and the empty fridge.

I was yet to look into the financial side of things as it seemed to be too much of a mountain to climb at this stage and partly because I knew, but didn't want my fears confirmed, that we'd taken a hit from having the in-home nurses stay with us for the last 6 months.

Living day by day was getting me through for now, but only just; bleak, subtle thoughts were now validating that I had started a path down a dark spiral of depression.

* * *

 **Month 2 –**

Still nothing from Jill and it's making me increasingly angry and resentful of myself because of how I reacted over the Prom weekend, but I tried to tell myself that she's not contacting me because she has no technological means to, not because she doesn't want to talk to me – but this mentally waned in a growing disbelief and my uncertainty arose. My only reassurance was the absence of posts on her Facebook page, but this was also one of my anxieties.

My phone vibrated in front of me on the dining table.

Andy: _Happy Birthday Jacob. I wish I could have been there with you to celebrate. Look after yourself._

I texted back, "Thx"

Today was my birthday and my only friend Andy was still on vacation, hundreds of miles away.

It was completely dark in the house with the exception of the light emitted from one bare incandescent bulb that hung low over the small dining table. The refrigerator rattled quietly and the kitchen sink echoed with a periodic drip, probably onto a dirty dish. I had managed to conjure up a Mug Cake in the microwave with the raw ingredients that were the only food left in the pantry and it now sat in front of me, its steam arose in a ghostly spiral towards the overhanging bulb. A single candle had been pushed through the top of the cake but remained unlit as I couldn't find anything to light it with.

"Happy _fucking_ Birthday Jake – your present this year is the loss of all your loved ones," I muttered to myself madly. "Blow on the candle and make a wish".

But instead of blowing on the cake, I thrashed out in sudden fit of built up rage and swiped the mug off the table which then flew across the room and crashed loudly into the wall breaking the mug into numerous shards of porcelain. Chunks of the Mug Cake were splattered around the point of impact on the wall and the remaining cake had slid down to the floor leaving chocolate stains all the way down the dated wallpaper. I buried my head in my hands and sobbed – quietly – alone.

* * *

On one of the rainy afternoons I had somehow built up the courage to look into my mom's financials to discover what situation she had left me in. There was a small glimmer of hope that stirred within me at the possibility that something substantial had been left behind and this helped to fuel my motivation to look into it. I currently had nothing coming in, but hopefully there was a large cache stored away at the bank.

A heavy burden settled on my chest as I opened the bank statement that sat on the of a bunch of other unopened mail and read the total figure of the account balances… Currently there was only _tiny_ amount of savings my mom had left behind and a massive mortgage. Although I already knew that we had a mortgage, I hadn't realized that my mom had used the mortgage to pay for the in-home nurses and had almost depleted the entire fund. The measly savings would only last another month or so but after that, I had no way of paying for anything – _I had to find a job._

* * *

 **Month 3 –**

There had been no reason to get out of bed and I was now struggling to be awake by midday these days, and today had been no exception; sleep was my only escape from my nightmare of reality. Pushing my blanket aside and leaning up against the wall next to my bed, I yawned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

Huh? That's weird. I was sure I had turned off my computer last night, but the laptop that sat on the desk was still on. With a sudden surge, I threw the blankets off the bed and rushed to the desk.

 _"One Missed Call from Jill"_ the little icon read on the corner of the desktop screen.

Finally! – Jill tried calling me on Skype, but she had called _hours_ ago...

"God damn it! Fuck!" I swore in a moment of anger before the rush of excitement flooded in. "Jill tried to contact me!"

Without thinking, I hit reply and waited anxiously – but no one answered. I clicked on reply again and waited – but still, no answer.

I hadn't left the computer's side all day, except to grab some tins of food to eat and a bucket to pee in. There was no way I was going to miss out on another call. By now it was midnight and there had still been no reply. Exhaustion kicked in and I resided to bed placing the laptop next to me with its speaker volume on the highest setting before I drifted off into a restless slumber. On the hour, every hour, I woke, stared at the screen only to see nothing, then struggled to fall back to sleep again only to wake soon afterwards to check the laptop again – and again. It seemed like a never-ending cycle that followed on to the next day and the next, before I realized in a shock that school was starting up in a few days.

"Oh gross it smells like piss in here!" Andy bellowed out as he walked into my room.

"What, what time is it?" I asked wearily from my bed, barely awake. "And how the fuck did you get into my house?"

"Your door was unlocked Jacob…" Andy swiftly replied as he carefully tip-toed around the month-old mess of dirty clothes and empty cans that I'd dumped on my bedroom floor. "Shit man, you're a mess. Is that… pee in the bucket? Gross dude!" Andy continued, gagging as he passed the bucket.

"Jill tried to Skype me, but –but – but," I stammered woefully. "I missed her call… Andy! _I missed her god damn call!"_

"It's okay Jacob," Andy said tone that was thickly layered with concern as he finally reached me at my bedside. "Stand up"

"Why should I?" I replied shortly.

"Jacob, please just stand up!" Andy insisted, towering above me.

I obliged with a groan and stood up next to him. Suddenly he wrapped his arms around me in a huge hug. Strong, overwhelming surges of emotions that I had buried over the last couple of months suddenly flooded out as I wept heavily on Andy's shoulder.

* * *

 **Month 4 –**

The clear blue sky was of little comfort as I approached the school entrance on the first day back at school. This was my first official day as a High School Senior, but it didn't feel like I had expected it to. It felt just as mundane as it did all those years before.

Hovering around the far rear of the group of flurrying students that slowly piled into the school building, I spotted Mr Henry staring at me from his perching spot to the left of the main entrance. His look, although slightly creepy, seemed to be one of compassion.

Out of nowhere, I felt a hard bony shoulder thrust heavily into the back of my shoulder sending a sharp pain through my collar bone. My torso contorted slightly under the power of the hit.

"Watch out faggot!" the culprit bellowed out as he walked past me with a huge smirk on his face. I peered back at him and almost didn't recognize him.

Quentin wore an over-sized, glistening white singlet that had a huge number "1" written on the back in bright red. His baggy Mesh Shorts matched his singlet in color and his shoes were unnaturally white, expensive looking Nike's with a golden tick stitched on their sides. The most baffling aspect of his new looks was that he hung his pasty semi-toned arm around one of the blondes that I could only guess was from the cheer leading team, sporting her as though she was a treasured accessory of his.

I shook my head in disgust, and just as Quentin walked up the stairs, Mr Henry pulled him aside by the collar of his singlet; much to Quentin's utter displease, Mr Henry whispered into his ear briefly before letting his clutch on the baggy singlet go. The smirk wiped off Quentin's face immediately and he rushed back into the crowd trying to find his girlfriend who had scampered off at the first sign of trouble. Mr Henry watched Quentin like a hawk until he disappeared into the school building before turning his gaze upon me where he flashed an unexpected smile.

As the last of the students made it inside the school building, I trailed along uncomfortably up the steps and past Mr Henry, hoping he wouldn't address me.

"Ahem… Jacob?" Mr Henry said quietly. "Principal Aiken wants you up in her office before class."

"Am I in trouble?" I replied confused keeping my eyes peeled to the ground.

"No, of course not, how can you be? School hasn't even started yet." Mr Henry chuckled.

"Oh, oh okay," I murmured. "Straight to the principal's office, got it."

Unmotivated, I trudged into the school building, across the hall and up the staircases arriving at the closed door of Principal Aiken's office door.

Knock, knock.

"Come in and have a seat Jacob," Mrs Aiken's voice traveled uninhibited through the door. She was obviously expecting me.

I entered the stuffy room and took a seat in front of her over-sized, perfectly laid out desk.

"First of all, welcome back to school," the principal said tearing her eyes from the computer screen and taking a sip from her coffee mug. "Look, I know you've had it pretty tough over the holidays… and I basically wanted to let you know that the school is _here for you_. You can approach the school counselor for advice anytime and my door is, well, _generally open_."

Clearing my throat, I stared blankly at the principal and for the first time I noticed her face twitched from a slight nervousness. Offering her help to me appeared to have caused her military-like presentation to waver ever so slightly.

"Also Jacob, I've had someone offer you a part time role at The Valley which could lead to full time when you leave school. This should help you cope with things outside of school."

"The Valley?" I questioned ungratefully.

"The Valley Department Store, the building at the end of –" the principal replied with a hint of annoyance in her voice at my lack of appreciation.

"Yes I know the place... it's just that – well I don't want to sound like I don't appreciate the offer or anything but..." I trailed off and shuddered at the thought of working at The Valley.

"Are you hesitating because the Gray's own it?" Mrs Aiken's said as her eyes narrowed.

"Well yeah, you know what Quentin will do to me at school if I worked there, for his dad?" I said desperately.

"Look Jacob, I understand what you're saying... I realize you and Quentin have your differences, but you have adult responsibilities now, and they are more important than your school squabbles. The way I see it Jacob, is that you don't have any other options. I would _insist_ that you take up the offer. Here is Mr Gray's card – he is expecting a call from you." Mrs Aiken handed a slick looking business card to me and forced out a smile. "I'm sorry Jacob and again, the school is here for you..."

"Thanks," I muttered shortly.

I rose up stiffly off the seat, scraped myself out of the room, and headed hastily to the first class of my senior year.

* * *

At home from the first, shitty day back at school, I sat on the bean bag in my room and stared at the business card that Mrs Aiken's had handed me. Mr Gray's mug shot was on the bottom left corner of the card and he wore a massively cheesy grin; his pearly white teeth appeared to sparkle out of from the shiny surface.

What other choice do I have? I asked myself time and time again.

I picked up my phone and dialed the number on the card. Precisely three rings later, a person picked up on the other line.

 _"The Valley Department Store, you're speaking with John, how may I be of your assistance?"_ The voice on the other line sounded almost as depressed as me.

"It's um, Jacob Chase here, Mr Gray is expecting a call from me?" I replied dully.

 _"Okay, one moment please, putting you through now."_

The phone's dial tone rung, for what seemed like ages.

A firm voice bellowed from the earpiece, _"Mr Gray here"._

I momentarily froze as I started to regret making this call.

 _"Hello?! You're wasting my –"_

"Sorry, it's Jacob here, Jacob Chase. The principal, err, Mrs Aiken, she gave me you card?" I said nervously.

 _"Jacob Chase? Alright, can you please come in tomorrow after school? I want you to start straight away,"_ Mr Gray spoke quickly and without pausing. _"You will be working Monday to Friday from four to nine and in the weekends you are working nine to nine. Got it?"_

I gawked out my window, stunned with the idea that all my wasted free-time was going to disappear.

"Yes, Mr Gray." I coughed out. "And how much will I be..."

 _"...eight dollars and fifty cents an hour, before taxes,"_ Mr Gray interrupted. Suddenly my laptop screen turned on – it was Jill – she was trying to Skype me! _"And when you come in tomorrow,"_ Mr Gray continued, but I now was only partly listening as I rushed to the computer desk and waited anxiously for Mr Gray to finish his spiel. _"...make sure you look tidy and go straight to the duty manager. Right, I've got to go now, bye."_

I clicked frantically on the mouse button as the cursor hung over the "receive call" logo on Skype before I'd even placed my phone down on the desk.

Jill's celestial face appeared on the screen; she looked more stunningly beautiful than I had remembered; I'd forgotten just how gorgeous she was. Her neck and head were covered by what looked like a light colored yellow veil. Behind her appeared to be a light blue canvas wall presumably of a large tent.

"Hi Jake, um, how are you doing?" Jill spoke rapidly as though she was racing against the clock. "Sorry, I don't have much time... I tried calling you last month, but I thought maybe you were still angry at me? Anyway, there is like only a small handful of laptops here and there are like ten thousand people at the camp so I only get to use it once a month for about ten minutes, if that... There is no mobile signal out here and we're on satellite only... Yeah so that's why I –"

I couldn't hold my grief in any longer, "My mom died."

Jill glanced down for a split second. "I'm truly sorry Jacob. I truly wish I was there for you right now."

"She um, passed away the day you left," I gulped as I held back the tears.

"Oh Jake, I'm so sorry. I wish I did more to stay behind, to be with you, _especially_ in this time. _I'm really sorry._ "

"...its okay," I shrugged.

"Look Jake, um, there's only a couple more months to go, then I'll be back and this time I won't leave your side, okay?"

My eyes welled up at Jill's kind gesture and a single tear streamed down my cheek.

"How... are... you...?" I managed to ask between heavy waves of emotion.

"Um, well its different, it's desperate out here. Everything is in short supply and has to be rationed, but the doctors are having a huge impact on the camp's moral. I think that it would quickly turn to chaos if they weren't here. Also, I've been hanging out with some younger kids playing soccer and teaching them English, which is cool... it feels kind of – refreshing.

Jill abruptly took a fleeting glance sideways away from the screen and nodded to someone outside of the web camera's view; she then turned back to the laptop with a renewed worry on her face. "I'm sorry Jacob, I've got to go."

"Wait! When will you call me again?" I replied desperately.

"Exactly one month," she said quickly, "...around the same time."

She glanced sideways again and nodded more vigorously than before at a person out of view before turning back to me.

"Bye, for now Jake."

Her beautiful face disappeared from the screen and was replaced with an empty blackness; the rush of excitement from seeing her had quickly evaporated into a hollowness as I realized I'd have to survive another month without seeing her.

* * *

 **Month 5 –**

Exhausted from working my ass off after school until nine o'clock every night over the last four weeks, I sat in Mr Henry's Senior Science class and gazed mindlessly at the pop quiz in front of me. The fluorescent tubes above me clicked and buzzed loudly, as though struggling to stay turned on; I could swear they were also flickering slightly and upon glancing up and surveying the other lights, it appeared as though only the light above me had a problem.

"Hi everyone. To start the lesson off we have a pop quiz. This quiz will test to see how much you've learnt from your recent homework. And as you all are part of the "now" generation, I will have your marks to you by the end of the lesson." Mr Henry called out over the class as he sat back in his chair behind his messy desk. "You have fifteen minutes starting from, err, now."

It had been impossible to complete any homework over the last month due my work hours, and today I felt that this test was going to prove that I was slipping behind, only a month into the school year.

All of the questions except for two were going to be complete guesses.

At the end of the class period, Mr Henry had marked all the pop quizzes and was handing them back to all the students.

"I'd like to see you after class Jacob," Mr Henry said quietly as he walked past my desk and dropped the test back in front of me. Unlike the other test sheets he was handing back, my sheet was folded. Curious, I unfolded the paper to reveal that Mr Henry had given me a blank piece of paper.

* * *

The bell rang soon after and the students suddenly got up from their seats and forced their way through the doorway and out into the hallway, whereas I remained in the classroom standing tired and confused in front of the Mr Henry's desk.

"Jacob, I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things." Mr Henry said softly.

"Okay," I replied weakly nodding, dreading the thought that he was about lecture me about my life.

"The mark you got on your pop quiz was... well, the lowest I've ever seen... What's going on?" he said gazing up with a concerned expression, removing his glasses and placing them carefully among the mess on his desk.

"Well I'm working now and I just can't get the balance right. Plus I'm tired the whole time..."

"And what about Jill?" Mr Henry interrupted brazenly.

"What do you mean sir?" I replied swiftly back, almost defiantly.

"Well, although I realize she is currently overseas, one would assume that you are somewhat preoccupied with the thoughts of her eventual arrival back?"

"Um, I don't mean to sound rude, sir, but you've got it wrong." I snapped back defensively. "A lot has happened to me over the last few months, as I'm sure you are aware, and I simply don't have time to do any homework. It's got nothing to do with Jill at all!"

"I hear what you are saying Jacob, but please don't let your studies suffer because of Jill and your current circumstances – Jill is not your life and she is not all that you think she is."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard.

Stupefied and furious, I bit down on my lip, painfully.

"Go to your next class before you're late." Mr Henry injected tonelessly.

There was enough to deal with on my plate, and so with that damning thought, I chose not to pick this fight, but god I really wanted to.

* * *

Andy and I met up at lunch time in the cafeteria. We sat in the shadow, in the "loner's corner" of the cafeteria, disjointed from the rest of the tables. The sun blared above the tree tops and through the windowed wall of the room.

On the menu today was a pie, peas, mash potatoes and chicken nuggets. They all looked superficial, even the peas.

I had had little appetite lately and the meal in front of me barely got touched.

"Jacob, what's up? Are going to eat your pie?" Andy asked with a mouthful of peas eyeing up my pie with hungry eyes.

"Nah, you have it." I replied sullenly.

"Cool, thanks!" Andy said as he reached over the table and grabbed the pie. "You all good?"

Andy had asked me this question hundreds of times since he had come back from his holiday where he got to see me at my lowest ever point in life.

"Yeah, I guess…. Mr Henry held me back today because I failed the pop quiz and he was concerned for me for the obvious reasons, but he also seemed to blame most of my failed result on Jill! He said something like that she was not all she appeared to be? What the hell does that mean?" I gazed down at my plate and saw that I had arranged the peas in the shape of a "J".

"Well, to be honest Jacob, and remember I say this as a friend, it looks like you are kind of grieving on Jill a bit, err, obsessively." Andy took a huge bite of my pie and continued with his mouth stuffed full of pastry. "I guess, what I mean is that with all the shit that has happened to you lately, she is like your only glimmer of hope, and I think what Mr Henry is trying to say is you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket maybe?"

"I'm lucky enough to have you as a friend Andy," I quickly began. "Sure I think about Jill way too much, but these thoughts, they are my _source_ of the small amount of happiness I feel these days, or it feels that way anyway, and it's a month to the day that she last called, which means she's calling me today..." I gazed away from Andy in a longing thought about Jill.

 _Two – more – months – to – go_

"Hey dick-wads!" erupted a low-toned menacing voice from across the room at the entrance to the cafeteria.

Sam, the bully of pretty much the entire school, walked through the entrance door to the cafeteria with Stefan and Wade flanked on his sides. The three of them walked in as if they owned the place.

Stefan and Wade were almost as big as Sam and although Sam was menacing on his own, the trio were the school's most dangerous threat; everyone knew to avoid them like the plague. The whole school was scared of them and the only person to have ever diffused a hostile situation involving any of the trio was Jill.

The three darkly dressed bullies strutted over to the serving bar but they had arrived too late– the bar had since been closed and they were clearly angered by this.

"What the fuck!" Sam yelled out furiously. "Where're we supposed to get our food from now?"

Most students glanced up at them momentarily before rapidly glancing back down at their meals, hoping that they had somehow become invisible to Sam and his crew of bullies.

"Who here is going to SHARE their lunch with me?" Sam questioned widely to the room.

The cafeteria remained deadly silent; everyone's heads were bowed slightly towards their tables and their eyes darted around awkwardly at their peers that sat opposite them.

The thought of bringing the bullies down overwhelmingly appealed but it was an unrealistic task; all of them were bigger, stronger and meaner than me. I would have stood no chance.

Andy's cheeks were bulging with pie that he had stuffed into his mouth before Sam had entered the room and his cheeks were starting to redden as he tried to take discreet bites.

Sam surveyed the room, and a second later he turned to face us, beaming a huge nasty-looking smirk.

"Andy! You look like you have plenty to share!" Sam said eagerly as he and his mates prowled over to our table.

"Sam, you can have mine, if you want," I intercepted trying to diffuse the hostility before Sam had another chance to open his mouth again. "Here take it." I held up the plate to Sam who stood staunchly over our table.

Sam's narrowing eyes locked onto me before he abruptly grabbed my plate and gave it to Stefan.

"Andy Andy, Andy. How is that leg of yours?" Sam scowled and was now focusing his bully antics on poor Andy, who appeared to be frozen in fear. "Give me your food, NOW!" But Andy didn't move; his eyes locked on mine, petrified. I reached out to grab Andy's plate to give it to Sam, but Sam leaned forward and placed his trunk-sized arm on the table, blocking me from reaching Andy's plate. Sam turned and sneered at me widening a smile that bore his yellow stained teeth. I could smell his putrid breath from halfway across the table.

"Andy!" I pleaded loudly. "Andy, snap out of it and give him your plate!" I pleaded to Andy who barely responded; he was still stiffened with fear.

"Maybe he doesn't want to give his food to me, maybe he wants to give it to you." Sam said snickering as he picked up a chicken nugget and tossed it into my face.

I'd had enough of these petty games.

I arose off my seat in a somewhat controlled fury and planted my feet firmly on the floor. I felt my face beginning to flush with heat. Sam, Stefan and Wade's expressions lit up from my reaction as they narrowed in around me.

"What's the problem Jacob? No Jill to save you this time?" Sam taunted intensely as his smirk tormented me, "…or is it that you can't run back to your mommy – because the whore – is – DEAD!"

"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" I burst out, the heat of rage within me erupting violently. My arms tensed up, recoil back then pushed forward with open palms towards Sam with a force that felt strangely familiar. The palms of my hands shot hard against Sam's chest and collided with his arms that he had suddenly lowered in a failed defense. Caught off guard at the sheer power of my shove, Sam stumbled backwards with his arms outstretched, clutching into the thin air for something to break his fall. With a look of bewilderment on his face, Sam collided with an occupied chair; he knocked the seat over and tumbled on top of it, crushing the person on the chair underneath him. The person who now lay underneath Sam's gigantic figure was screaming out in pain.

Oh no, what have I done? Who have I just unintentionally hurt?

Sam heaved himself up but left the hurt girl wriggling in pain on the floor.

"Y'all saw this? Y'all witnessed what Jacob has just done! And you think I'm a bully?" Sam announced out to the entire room, turning as he talked to ensure he had been heard by everyone.

"But I didn't know…" I stammered weakly, but the glaring looks from the surrounding students silenced me. Everyone now clearly scorned at me with their eyes with a disheartening disapproval.

"Come on, let's go and have smoke," Sam croaked to his mates as he walked out of the cafeteria with a slight limp, Stefan and wade close behind him.

I quickly approached the small freshman that had been the unfortunate cushion for Sam's fall and knelt down beside her. She clutched her arm close to her chest and frowned heavily at me through tearful eyes.

"I'm so sorry," I said softly. "Please let me help you up –"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed back.

"What's going on? What's all this commotion about?" A firm and familiar voice echoed through the room above the resumed murmuring of the students.

Casting my eyes over to the entrance of the cafeteria, my heart lurched into my stomach at the sight of the principal who stood in the doorway with her hands curled on her hips.

"Jacob, what's going on?" she said harshly with a hawking stare.

"I was… um… Andy and I were… um…" I stammered unable to find the words to explain myself while everyone in the room stared at me with their beady, judging eyes.

"My office – NOW!" Mrs Aiken commanded loudly.

I stood up and glanced at Andy. He hardly moved. It was as if someone had turned him into stone. Either way, he had been of no help. Lumbering towards the principal, I turned and glanced at the injured freshman who still sat on the ground, and my gaze was met with her damning glare.

* * *

After spending the rest of the day in the principal's office, in detention, I finally made it out of her stuffy den.

Mrs Aiken wanted to keep me behind after school but I pleaded with her that I couldn't stay past the last bell due to work commitments. She hesitantly agreed to let me go but she had strictly warned me that threatening to kill someone at school warranted a final warning – no exceptions. And that if any other trouble came about, I would be looking at expulsion.

I greatly regretted my outburst and hadn't meant to harm anybody at all. However Sam deserved some sort of punishment but as he didn't actually touch me, there was nothing the Mrs Aiken could do.

It was also a month to the day since Jill and I had talked via Skype and as I jogged home from school and glanced at the phone clock, I realized that there was only a small window of opportunity to get home in time for the Skype call, so I broke into a sprint.

I was prepared to call in sick from work today if Jill's call was late. If this happened I knew my manager was going to be furious with me but I didn't care, seeing Jill was way more important.

Almost out of breath, I cut the corner that lead to Mrs Weatherly's house and suddenly collided into a large stocky torso.

"Watch where you going, _momma's boy_." the large person said before he pushed me hard on the chest, sending me careening backwards.

I glanced up timidly and gulped – it was Sam and his mates, Wade and Stefan; their faces were bent with a savage hunger for revenge.

God damn it! This was bad timing.

"You know what, Jacob?" Sam asked teasingly, but I didn't dare answer his question. "That poor little freshman girl that you hurt, I think she needs some justice..." Sam rubbed his cupped hands together. "Come on boys – let's get him."

The three large shouldered males lurched towards me. I side stepped and slipped through a tiny opening between them. Two steps later I thought at least I'd be able to out-run them, but suddenly I was forcefully pulled backwards by the shoulder straps of my bag which caused me to fall painfully on my tailbone on the hard pavement.

There was a snicker of laughter before I saw from the corner of my eye, a large black boot swing into the side of my rib cage. Instinctively, I flicked my arms up and the boot hit my forearms instead, but the force from the kick sent me collapsing onto my side. The three bullies quickly surrounded me and started kicking into my defenseless body. Agonizing shots of pain erupted from my arms, my back and from my torso as Sam, Stefan and Wade pummeled me with their heavy boots. I covered my head with my arms as best as I could, but some kicks caught my head and neck. One kick caught my nose and I could feel blood streaming over my check and into my ear.

Peering though my now blurred vision as the bullies continued to viciously attack me, I thought I saw, through Mrs Weatherly's white picket fence pails, a shadowy figure; the slender shape reminded me of the intruder I'd seen at Jill's house that fateful night, so many months ago. I tried to focus but my blurry vision started to form black dots and I felt myself losing consciousness.

"HEY! Stop it! Get out of here!" a familiar voice yelled out and the battering assault on me suddenly stopped. Pattering sounds faded away as I released the perpetrators had scampered off down the road.

"Jacob, are you okay?"

I blinked slowly and saw Mr Henry bending down to me; he grabbed my arms and helped me up off the ground and to my weakened legs.

"Is anything broken?" he asked breathlessly.

It felt like bruises were erupting all over my entire body. The wind that had been kicked out of me slowly returned and although short sharp pain shot from localized parts around my body, I had been lucky to have come out of this attack with only cuts, bruises and a bloodied nose.

"Those three are animals," I breathed hoarsely spitting a clump of blood onto the grass.

"I'll run inside and get you something to stop that bleeding," Mr Henry urged.

"No it's okay... I've gotta go," I replied shortly between rattling breaths remembering that I needed to get home quickly to catch Jill's Skype call. "Thanks anyway."

A strange renewed sense of dread flooded my thoughts and I felt a strange longing to head towards Mrs Weatherly's house. Glancing beyond Mr Henry, I could see the outline of a figure that almost blended in with the surrounding shadows through the net curtains of the Mrs Weatherly's bay window. Someone was definitely inside, and it wasn't Mrs Weatherly. Whoever it was seemed to be calling out to me, yearning for me to go towards it.

"Jacob, let me help you." Mr Henry insisted.

"No, I've really got to go!"

Thoughts of seeing Jill pushed me to leave in a limped jog. I had to make it home in time – _I had to see Jill._

* * *

Ten minutes of stumbling later I had arrived home. After fumbling for the keys and opening up the door to the barren house, I limped inside, straight upstairs and into my room.

" _Fuck_ , oh no!" I cursed as the words on the screen became clearer. "NO, NO, NO!"

 _Missed call from Jill._

A streak of uncontrollable anger coursed through my mind and in a sudden rush of rage, my clenched fist collided through the plaster wall next to the laptop screen.

I had missed the _only_ good thing I had going for me this month.

* * *

 **Month 6 –**

Waiting impatiently by my computer for Jill's call, I glanced down at the growing pile of homework from the last four weeks that sat next to the laptop. It was blatantly obvious that I was falling grossly behind in school but there was no way I was ever going to get through the impossible stack of assignments; I just didn't have enough time and this was mainly because of the hours I spent at my job at the department store. It was an impossible task. I may have had a slim chance if I actually understood the homework and pulled some All-Nighters, but my focus waned too often during class and I would end up daydreaming about a happier life – a life with Jill. And before I'd known it, the class would be finished and there would be another assignment on my desk about a subject I had learnt nothing about. It was a vicious cycle.

I almost jumped out of my seat with excitement as the laptop screen suddenly lit up with Jill's call on Skype. Clicking on the answer button as fast I my finger would allow, my breath was swept from my lungs as my eyes fell upon the laptop's LCD; Jill's gorgeous face animated the screen. I'd almost forgotten how starkly beautiful she was.

"Hi Jacob, how are you?" Jill asked softly.

"I'm… err, good, thank you." I lied because I didn't want our brief time on this call to be about how shit my life was without her. "…and how are you?"

"It's good, it's been a once in a life time experience here," Jill's face glowed as she talked excitedly. "I think that we've help to restore the refugees' faith in humankind. I think we've made a real difference, but gosh, thank goodness it's near the end of our stint. I'll be coming home soon, Jacob. I can't wait to see you. Sorry, I'm rambling on now."

"No, it's okay Jill... I could listen to you ramble on for hours," I replied coyly.

"Well I've met an old woman here, her name is Bana and she always got an exciting story to tell every time I go and see her and…" Jill abruptly turned away from the screen. Background murmuring hissed on the laptop speakers; it sounded like a voice nearby was speaking urgently in another language, presumably Arabic.

"What's going on?" I asked concernedly.

Jill glanced back to the webcam. "Not sure Jake, but people seem to be worried about something, it's probably nothing…"

The thudding of running footsteps became audible and the frenzied murmuring got louder, drowning out Jill's voice...

Straining to understand even just a few words of the panicky voices, one English word was then shouted and its sound resonated painfully in my brain….

"TERRORISTS!"

"Terrorists? Jill! What's going on?" I yelled out, now in grave concern for Jill's safety.

"I'd better go Jake," she replied quickly as she glanced back at the screen with a flustered look about her. "…see you soon, Jake, stay safe." she continued as she scrambled to her feet knocking the laptop off its perch. The view on my screen now showed, at an acute angle, the opening of the tent where Jill quickly disappeared out of sight; masses of people started blurring across the screen, many of whom were yelling with panic. The screen then froze and a moment later, it went completely black.

* * *

After a sleepless night drenched in anxiety and worry about whether Jill was okay or not, I somehow managed to drag myself to school. Being on my last warning and one step from expulsion, I had to be there.

On the walk to school, distressing thoughts spun tirelessly around in my head:

Sam strangely enough hadn't shown up to school over the last couple of weeks and prior to that he had kept his distance from me. He even had avoided eye contact. Mr Henry must've warned him off something wicked, so wicked in fact that he hasn't returned to school, but this thought didn't sit quite right… something felt off _._ I guess he's officially a dropout now anyway, which he probably wanted; his old school mates now mooched up to Quentin and it was a sickening sight.

My only friend Andy started to become somewhat distant; I think this is because my hangout time with him is currently non-existent, thanks to my work commitments. There were so many outstanding bills to be sorted out and I wasn't managing to pay them all on my part time, minimum-wage job. The likelihood of having to drop out of school and seek full time employment was soon becoming a reality.

First lesson this morning was gym class. Mr Edward had us all seated down on the first few rows of the gym's wooden bench seats, and for the first time ever, Andy didn't sit with me. Mrs Hislop's class were opposite us across the court and mirrored us as they sat on the opposite side of the room.

Mr Edward who looked more pale than usual, was sniffling and had a raspy voice.

"Okay everyone, today we're going to play Dodgeball," he croaked out flatly. "I'm not feeling very well today so Mrs Hislop will be taking both classes."

Turning around, he waved an unenthusiastic "thumbs up" at the other teacher and walked over to a chair in the corner of the room and sat down.

Mrs Hislop told her class to stand up and to follow behind her. She led her class to the other side of the gym in a light jog; they reminded me of an army platoon.

"Everyone take a seat!" Mrs Hislop bellowed out. "Right, now we need two team leaders to come up here and pick teams." She surveyed the students in front of her while she chewed on her blue whistle like it was a dog toy. "Yes – first team leader is... Justin! And the other team leader is... you over there!" The teacher continued as she pointed at a person who sat towards the middle.

Andy stood up and timidly walked to the teacher before turning around and gazing shyly at the rows of students now gawking at him with hopeful expressions of wanting to be picked early.

" _He must_ pick me," I thought worryingly as Andy darted his eyes around the students before glancing momentarily at me with an overly nervous look in his eye.

"Um..." Andy pondered. "Um, I, err, pick Quentin."

What the fuck? He's probably picked Quentin because of what he did to his leg last time we played Dodgeball against him and figured if he was on the same team...

...But Andy's second pick wasn't me. I wasn't even third, fourth or fifth.

I was the _last person_ picked and ended up by default in Andy's team.

What – the – fuck?

We headed off to the opposite sides of the court and with a long loud blow of Mrs Hislop's whistle, the game started. Trying to remain positive and distracted from my increasingly worrying thoughts about Jill, I attempted a number of runs towards the middle but almost every time I did, a ball hit me hard in the back. At first I thought my team members were hitting me by accident, but then Mrs Hislop blew her whistle and stopped the game.

"Quentin! Stop throwing the ball into your team mate!" Mrs Hislop yelled out over the echoing thuds of the balls that were loosely bouncing around.

I turned and glanced at Quentin, his face contorted with a sneer and the students around him snickered. The thought of throwing a ball hard into his face appealed but then I remembered that I was on my final warning. I swallowed the shame and turned away.

"Okay positions everyone – and go!" The game started up again, but this time I remained in the back corner of the court, away from all the commotion of the flying balls and scampering students but this only flared up my worries. Why hadn't Andy picked me? Will Jill be okay? Was there anything that I could do? I should talk to Andy – get things in the open.

* * *

The Dodgeball game ended shortly afterwards and both classes headed to the changing rooms.

Walking alone, I plodded into the locker rooms. The light blue paint on the walls still smelled fresh after having a recent re-coat. Rows of lockers that were separated by wooden benches encased the expansive room giving it a very enclosed feeling. Changing in close quarters to the likes of Quentin often spurred taunts and mocking from and his crew, but today my fellow class mates were strangely quiet - especially Andy who had avoided eye contact with me ever since the Dodgeball game.

After changing back into my regular outfit of black jeans and a black band shirt, I was busting for a piss. Stuffing my gym clothes quickly into my dark green duffel bag and resting it on the bench in the middle of the lockers that formed a "U" shape around us, I then headed for the toilet just as the bell rang.

After relieving myself I hurried back into the locker room when I bumped into Andy who seemed to be in a rush to leave. Andy was never in a rush to get to his next class.

"Are you alright Andy?" I asked noticing Andy's face had suddenly turned pale.

"Yep," he said under his breath before heading out of the room and into the hallway joining the rest of the flurrying students who were heading to their next classes.

I walked into the hallway and briskly made it to my hallway locker to swap out our gym bags but as I was dialing in the combination to open my locker, someone dug their finger into my shoulder. I turned around on my heel and was greeted with Mrs Aiken's frowning face.

"Jacob..." she started irately.

"Yes miss?" I replied stumped.

"Open your bag," she commanded firmly. "Open you bag please – _slowly._ "

"Um, okay, sure," I replied confused and as I unzipped the top of the duffel bag, I glanced around and saw that _everybody_ had stopped dead and were staring curiously at me.

With the zip to the gym bag fully open, I looked back at Mrs Aiken's deathly stare.

"Take everything out," she instructed.

"Okay, can you please explain what is going on here–" I objected cautiously.

"Jacob, just do as I ask," Mrs Aiken shot back harshly.

I shook my head in dissent and pulled out my gym clothes.

Underneath, a shimmering reflection caught my eye; it also had caught the principal's attention.

"What is that, Jacob?" Mrs Aiken asked with an increased urgency in her voice.

"I – I'm not sure, miss" I replied bewildered.

 _"Take it out, NOW!"_

I reached into the bag, grasped the object and pulled it out; surprised by its heavy weight, I held the object up in plain view for everybody to see and suddenly realized what it was – a knife pouch.

"Keep it in the pouch Jacob..." Mrs Aiken ordered " _...and hand it over immediately!_ "

Without hesitation, I passed the pouch to her.

"I – I didn't know it was in here... It's not mine!" I stammered sounding foolish. The unconvinced faces starred back at me with looks of horror and disparagement.

The principal opened the pouch and pulled out a large, shiny hunting knife. Gasps escaped the mouths of the encompassing students. Was someone laughing?

But then something else caught Mrs Aiken's attention. She handed the knife to the large male teacher who I only just realized was standing staunchly next to her; she then reached into the pouch and pulled out a plastic bag that had a rolled up joint in it.

"I swear, none of this is mine! – I've been set up!" I protested desperately, but my pleas were falling on deaf ears. "Please Miss, Andy will vouch for me!"

Darting my eyes around, I spotted Andy a few of rows of students back; he looked completely miserable and upon trying to call to him, he turned and walked off, disappearing from view.

What the fuck?

"Jacob..." Mrs Aiken said. " _Andy_ was the one who alerted me to your weapon, and thank god he did before anyone got hurt."

 _What the fuck?_

Mrs Aiken handed the knife and the drugs to her male colleague and whispered into his ear before he walked off in a hurry into the nearest classroom. Mrs Aiken turned back to me with a look of regret and disappointment.

"I'll see you in my office now... everyone else, get to class!"

Mrs Aiken escorted me quickly to her office and instructed me to sit down.

Every time I opened my mouth to protest, Mrs Aiken promptly silenced me. It seemed pointless to disagree with her any further, her mind was made up.

"You've left me with no choice Jacob... I have to expel you. As of right now, you're no longer a student here at Jackson Valley High."

Flashing blue and red lights suddenly beamed through the large multi-sash windows, and the cars that carried them screeched to a halt.

The police had arrived. Fuck. I had been screwed over.

* * *

The police officers gripped my arms tightly as they walked me out of the office, down the stairs and to my locker to collect the rest of my belongings. They then escorted me through the empty hallway, through the large steel entrance doors, down the concrete steps, and into their police car. In the front seat, the officers chattered to each other about what they should have for lunch and after the ten minute car ride, we had arrived at the Jackson Valley police station.

The police were stationed in an old orange brick building that had its walls adorned with large white arched windows that looked like eyes peering out onto the street.

As we slowed down and parked in front of the white arched entrance door, I cocked my head around and glanced out the car window and through the building's windows and could see officers sitting at their desks – some were typing, others were on the phone.

"Out!" ordered one of the officers as he swung the door fully open. I hadn't realized the car had come to complete stop.

I dazedly pulled myself up and out of the car and walked into the Police Station, flanked by two intimidating cops.

"This one is Jacob Chase... from the school call-out," said one of the officers next to me across the reception desk to his female colleague who stood on the other side behind a thick wall of glass.

"Yes. Thank you officer Jones, I'll arrange for his case officer to see him shortly," she replied flatly.

"Mr Chase, please take a seat."

I shuffled my feet across the small lobby and sat in the corner of the room on a black padded wooden chair. The two officers that had escorted me here chatted casually among themselves before a crackly call came through on their shoulder mounted radio.

 _"Available unit please respond to a ten sixteen on Chambers Ave."_

The officers walked out of the lobby chuckling to each other.

* * *

An hour waiting seemed extreme considering that I was the only one in the lobby and no-one had come in or out that whole time. Hardly any calls came in either and the reception lady seemed to spend an awful lot of time checking the condition of her nails. Finally the heavy hinged door that had a sign saying "No Entry" clicked open with a beep and a tall African American man stepped through.

"Are you Jacob Chase?" he asked with a very deep voice. His huge broad shoulders blocked my view completely as he stood a couple of feet in front of me. A light brown folder was tucked neatly under his arm.

"Yes," I replied weakly.

"Hi, I'm officer Williams and I'm your case officer." Officer Williams said as he narrowed his soft brown eyes and stroked his tousled mustache with his free hand. "Please come through with me."

I stood up wearily and followed slowly behind the Officer Williams through the "No Entry" door and into a darkened hallway. We paced for a few meters before Officer Williams stopped at a blank gray door and knocked three times on its slightly textured surface.

"Come in," said a voice from the other side of the door.

Officer Williams opened the door and gestured for me to enter first.

The stench of cooked noodles wafted into my nostrils as I stepped into the denim and beige colored room.

There was a simple rectangular table in the middle of the room and two black plastic chairs that sat on either side of it. A dated note recorder sat precisely in the middle of the table and the only window behind the furniture had its blinds shut.

A younger, inexperienced-looking officer sat across the table and was finishing off the last of his instant noodles.

"Put those away, Officer Davis." Officer Williams said firmly before he stepped around the table, pulled the blinds open and sat down next to his colleague. "Grab a seat Jacob."

"Um, sure." I replied feebly pulling out the chair opposite the officers and sitting down on it in a slouch.

The sun bleed through the gaps in the blinds opposite me and it was almost unbearably blinding, but the police officers hadn't seemed to notice (or care) as they started questioning me.

"Officer Williams and Officer Davis: Questioning and statement from Jacob Chase in concern to his recent moments." Officer Williams said clearly into the recorder while he stared at me. "Can you please confirm your full name?"

"Jacob Chase," I replied quietly.

"You're going to have to speak up son" Williams replied firmly.

"Jacob – Chase" I croaked a little louder than before.

"No middle name?"

"No."

"Can you please explain to me why you brought a knife and drugs to school?"

"I didn't bring a knife or drugs to school" I replied back defensively.

"Alright Jacob, can you tell me then how the knife and the bag of weed came to find their way into your bag?"

"I don't know! But it wasn't me that had put it in there! I was set up!"

"And why do _you_ believe that?"

"Well, um, because it wasn't me that put them in there!" I insisted with a raised and frustrated voice.

"Okay, I'm only going to say this once Jacob – keep your voice to a normal talking level and tone, otherwise we're going to get nowhere. Understood?" Officer Williams commanded gazing coldly at me with a hardened look.

I nodded frustratingly.

"I'll ask the question _again_. Why do you _believe_ you were set up? Do you have anyone fellow class mates that were acting differently around you? Or maybe you've upset someone? Keep in mind that if you name anyone, you have to justify why you think they are involved."

"I don't have many friends... but I have one good friend called Andy." I peered down at the table in a blank stare while my voice escaped my lips in a depressive and confused tone. "But I think he did it... But why?"

"Do you have reason to believe your friend, Andy, planted the items in your bag?"

"I – I'm not sure," I stuttered confusedly. "No, I don't know."

"Okay, is there any other reason that you can think of that he would do this?"

The thoughts in my mind clouded and I couldn't think of much at all, let alone a motive that drove Andy to do this to me.

"Quentin, it must have been Quentin!"

"And do you know why he would do this?"

"…because… he bullies me... has for years!"

"Sorry son, that's not really a valid reason, can you think of anything more solid?"

I shook my head slowly and my bottom lip started to tremble with despair.

"Okay, let's look down another avenue," Officer Williams said and he opened the brown folder and turned a couple of the pages.

"Right, so I have a report here from a month ago stating that a few witnesses saw an assault between you and three of your peers, outside… let's see here... Mrs Weatherly's house? What can you tell me about that?"

"Well I was ambushed by Sam, the top bully at school, and his two mates… Luckily, one of the school teachers, Mr Henry, scared them off before I got seriously hurt."

"Oh I see… You didn't file a complaint with us?"

"No."

"And before that, there was another altercation involving the same group of boys at school? Mrs Aiken mentioned that this happened in the school cafeteria?"

"Yes, Sam and his gang picked on me then too. He was demanding food… I gave him my plate, but it still wasn't enough…" I trailed off gazing into the corner behind the officer's faces.

"And can you confirm with a yes or a no, that during that altercation, _you threatened to kill him?_ "

"Yes but – but I didn't mean it! Look... What does _any_ of this have to do with the knife and the drugs?" I demanded uncomfortably starting to feel sick in my stomach.

"Well Jacob, I'm afraid the matters concerning you are of priority," Officer William's said, his eyes narrowed further and his gaze hardened still. "You see Sam has been missing for the last two weeks and this morning _we found his severed hand._ "


	24. Chapter 24 - THE HUNT

**Chapter 24 – THE HUNT**

* * *

I hadn't fed for a week and my strength was slowly diminishing; my last prey feed me for almost half a month but soon yielded to my relentless appetite. While I relished the security of this source of enrichment, I detested the bitter taste. My first ever feed had been delectable, but nothing seemed to satisfy me since. Feeding to survive is what the burden had become.

I was too weak to hunt on my own this clear night, so I had taken my trusty old hunting rifle with me and it was loaded with just a single round; one shot was all I needed - I hadn't missed a target yet.

The full moon managed to pierce glaring beams of reflected sunlight into the forest through the tree canopy, but my heavy hooded cloak would protect me from these searing columns that struck the forest floor so beautifully.

Hunting during a full moon in dense forest while enervated was a treacherous concoction.

Although I was in a weakened state, my ability to see through the thick darkness was hindered to some degree, but it was still much more than what it used to be. Bright orange heat signatures of insects around me and the sleeping birds in their high up nests above me flickered out against the tree trunks and the sodden forest floor. Fainter glowing shapes of larger animals miles away, were difficult to spot against the grayness, and if I wasn't so weak, they would be just as bright as the surrounding heat from the closer life forces and much easier to prey upon. And then there was the smell. I wished this forest was scented like fresh wood, it'd remind me of home. But the Jackson Valley forest always seemed to stink of shit and sodden soil.

It was a larger animals that I craved, a stag maybe, their volume of blood was crucial as I wasn't sure when I'd be able to feed again. But only one animal each hunt was all that I feared I could get away with, otherwise the Forest Rangers might observe a spike in slain creatures found in their territory as unusual activity and would investigate further. So I only had one bullet loaded into the bolt action rifle – to take the temptation away. I had frenzied once before in a different forest in a different country and it didn't go unnoticed. I became the hunted and my hunters all died because of it. Such a waste of life.

My kind was scarce and locked into secrecy; this world wasn't ready for us yet _._

I _had_ to be kept a secret.

The next encounter was approaching and I needed to get my strength back up for it. I can't let them down, too much was potentially at stake. We didn't have all the information but we couldn't miss the next chance that came up. The timing had to be impeccable and we had to be seen as the good guys.

A deafening screech, followed by a deep growl pricked my ears up and vibrated through my night vision, breaking my thoughts about the assignment ahead. I gazed into the direction of animal calls and noticed that two of the distant glowing shapes had converged and seemed to be attacking each other. I quickly and stealthily closed in on them covering the mile gap within a minute, multiple times faster than even the fastest human runner; it would have been so much faster had I not been in such a frail state. And as I approached the two animals silently under their resonating snarls, their shapes became clear – a large bear and a lone wolf.

This was a rare opening – I would be able to injure the bear, feed on it, and then leave the corpse for the wolf to clean up. The Park Rangers, when they came across the carcass, would assume a pack of wolves killed the bear. Every feed was calculated but rarely as easy as this one.

Raising the rifle to my shoulder and turning the safety off, I aimed the iron sights through the inch wide gaps between the crossing tree branches and at the fighting pair of apex predators.

My arms were dead still and my breaths were non-existent; the sights never wavered from their target. While I aimed the half-century old rifle at the bear that currently stood tall a couple of feet from the smaller wolf, readying to pounce another attack, I squeezed my finger on the rifle's trigger and watched the bullet exit the end of the barrel in a perfect sphere of smoke. My eyes traced the bullet as it cracked through the night air, between the trees, and into the side of the bear's skull with a sickening crack. The bear immediately fell limp and slumped to the ground, and the wolf, startled by the bear's sudden fall, shunted and dashed off, stopping about a hundred meters away before turning back pacing at the distance hungrily.

The bear's large furry body, hunched over in a contorted position, lay nearly still within a white column of intense moonlight; its chest wheezed up and down and I knew there wasn't much time before my prey became rotten. I strapped the rifle over my shoulder and held my hood downwards before sprinting to the dead animal. Arriving at the shot bear a second later, I quickly checked that my gloves, where they intersected with my cloak sleeves, showed absolutely no skin in the gap before slowly leaning forward cautiously into the beam of moonlight. My hands gripped the bears neck and I pulled the dying animal just out of the moonlit's reach. Kneeling on my knee beside the bear's blood stained head, the fresh blood beckoned me, but before I divulged into the bear, I took a fleeting glance around, just in case, then, after confirming no human signatures were around the area, I ripped into the bears neck savagely. Striking an artery, the overly metallic-tasting blood absorbed into my veins quickly, and the sensation of my weakened state that had impeded my abilities, slowly withered away, replacing it with a renewed sensation of elevating strength – but the harsh taste was nauseating, as was such with animal blood. The warmth from the fresh blood that now surged through my otherwise stone cold body was the only immediate, but short lived comfort from this kill.

A sickening minute later, the blood stream from the bear's neck dissipated, and I shakily disengaged before the bear's heart stopped. I'd never quite gotten used to letting my latch go; the blood always seemed to become sweeter the thinner the supply became, but if I didn't unlatch before the heart stopped its hypnotic pulsing, I'd be good as dead.

I dragged the lifeless bear back into the beam of moonlight before slipping back into the forgiving darkness. Leaning against a tree trunk, I needed a moment to recover while the fresh blood slowly regenerated throughout the rest of my cold body.

Animal blood was no substitute for human blood – it was akin to eating rotten fruit. I felt sick, yet my stomach refused to let go.

An abrupt, almost unbearable sound of a car horn from up the forest covered hill, rippled through my ears and shook my night vision snapping me out of the blood-induced nausea.

The lone wolf had stalked over to the carcass and stared at me obediently with large hungry eyes – he was waiting for me to give him permission to finish off the bear. I nodded slightly from under my hood and the wolf then lowered his thick jaws to the carcass but maintained a cautionary stare at me as he began to tear at the bear's flesh in short bursts of frenzy. Between bites, the black wolf prudently glanced up at me with its big yellow eyes in preparation to scamper off again, if I ordered it to.

But the car's horn signaled that I needed to head back, and quickly, and so I turned my back to the feeding wolf and sprinted through the trees and up the hill at great velocity, covering the miles back to the road much quicker than before.

Stopping at the shadow's edge of the forest, I surveyed the open surroundings before stepping out into the moonlit street. The long black unmarked car sat idling close by as it waited for me to step inside.

I glanced down the long hill towards the end of the street, a mile or so away, and spotted a heat signature of a person stepping out of a utility vehicle.

 _"Ranger Hadley, reporting: I have arrived at one of the streets outside the edge of the forest, err... Casey Avenue, I think..., and can confirm that the street lights are out... Moving to handheld radio now and I am going to check if any animals have damaged the power lines... I will report back in ten."_ I had heard a male voice on the CB radio inside the truck replying and realized this was the reason why I had been called back to the car – it was a warning that someone was coming and that someone was a overly curious Forest Ranger.

Opening the car door quickly and jumping into the empty backseat, I then closed the door and sighed from relief that I was now under the protection of the black tinted windows. The car's V8 engine burbled as we then drove down the hill and past the Ranger who stared at the car with a mystified look on his face.


	25. Chapter 25 - THE LOST and the RETURNED

**Chapter 25 – THE LOST and the RETURNED**

* * *

Staring out the lounge window through the gaps in the closed curtain, I noticed that Winter was once again upon us; then there would be Spring, followed by Summer, then Autumn before Winter again. Blah blah blah. Goddamn rinse and repeat. The trees that lined the street outside my house had been, just weeks ago, covered in rotten corn-colored shades of yellow, orange and brown, but now stood barren and leaf-less. The Winter bitch was approaching.

A week had passed since my expulsion from high school and I now resided in the lounge of my late mother's house. The television had been running the entire week and only the news channel played on the screen. I also had my laptop setup on the cluttered coffee table (some dirty dishes made their way onto the floor to make room for the laptop to sit). The whole week ticked by in an insufferable loop of anxiety, insomnia and paranoia; the anxiety stemmed from the fact that the last Skype call I had with Jill ended hauntingly and I was terrified at the thought that Jill somehow wasn't coming back. The news channel on the TV and the news sites on the internet failed to show anything refugee camp related. Only the day Jill returns will this anxiety cease. The insomnia was a result of the anxiety, I simply couldn't shut the dreadful thoughts out of my mind long enough to fall asleep; and the paranoia that followed the insomnia seemed like a natural progression in my declination of my overall state, but my paranoia didn't relate to Jill, it had instead focused on the Police and their reasons for believing I had something to do with Sam's disappearance and his severed hand.

 _What ever happened to Sam - served the fucker right._

The only healthy routine I managed to adhere to was leaving on time for work, even though it had been difficult to tear myself away from my obsession with keeping up with the latest news (F5 refresh, F5 refresh, F5 refresh). And today was no different as my phone alarm sounded reminding me to depart for work.

I quickly dressed in the lounge and stood in front of the small mirror that I had moved from my room and applied my concealer makeup that I had originally been forced to buy, and wear, as a result from receiving a black eye after Sam's assault on me, but now I used it to cover the deepening blackness around my eyes from a severe lack of sleep.

" _Breaking news report..."_ I turned back to the TV and watched in disbelief as the news anchor delivered the report without a hint of humanness. _"...reports have just come in... Terrorists have reportedly taken over a western Syrian refugee camp where 'Doctors without Borders' had been operating in, killing hundreds of men... We have reports that are telling us that a small handful of Americans are among the captured. We will report on more information as it comes in... In other news, Kim Kardashian shows us what the latest dress trends for this Winter are..., next on Channel N."_

* * *

I had left a few minutes later than usual – a small panic attack had ensued after the news about the refugee camp, and now I was going to be late for work, and possibly fired.

Mr Grey, the owner of the Valley Department Store was supervising his staff today, and he was a very strict, stubby man. Staff members warned me that if you arrived one second late, according to Mr. Grey's watch, you were deemed as late to work and would be punished in some form or another. I never could figure out why Quentin was such a dick, until I met his chubby fuck of a father.

Part of my journey to work was through one of the the town's open parks. A painful stitch stabbed my ribs as I desperately sprinted to the store, and as I approached the midway point of the park, I spotted a blue bike that leaned against the only wooden bench in the middle of the overgrown grass, yet a quick glance around confirmed that the park was empty. The pain from the stitch became too unbearable and as I arrived to the bench, I decided to concede and sat down. I glanced at the mountain bike and realized that it hadn't been locked up. Peering around the park that I already knew was empty, a twinge of guilt started evading my morality. Pulling my phone out of my pocket and glancing at the time, I concluded that this bike was the only chance I had to make it to work on time, so after putting the phone away and taking another fleeting glance around the field, I stood up, grabbed hold of the handle bars, jumped on the seat and peddled away hastily, swallowing the guilt that tried to surface; someone had stolen _my_ bike in the past so I was just getting _even_.

The bike enabled me to arrive at work with two minutes to spare – if it hadn't been for the bike, I would've lost my job. This kind of luck in my life was non-existent and I got the feeling as though someone had planted the bike there for me and that someone had watched me take it. My workplace was situated in the town's west shopping center and it was by far the biggest building in the parking lot, and boldest too with its huge red banners that wrapped around the top of the building. Mammoth-sized capital letters that lit up in yellow were fixed to the front of the building above the entrance sporting the name of the store. Two large automatic glass sliding doors swallowed me into the huge open-plan department store and I pushed the bike inside and rolled it over the gleaming lino covered pathway. The overhead florescent lighting always stung my eyes upon first walking through and it seemed to make every object in the store shine artificially bright, more appealing to customers.

All the other staff members had already started their shifts (it was typical for staff to start ten minutes before their actually start time as this showed initiative or some shit), and they were all on the shop floor looking busy as Mr Grey, the owner, had spent the day in his shop checking up on his staffs' performances. Not one single employee said hello to me as I walked in, but it didn't matter anyway, they never said "hi" to me regardless and I had gotten the impression from day one that no one liked me. It was kind of like school all over again.

I pushed the bike through the overly glistening store, through the aisles and aisles of clothing, sporting goods, electronics, hardware, through the back "staff only" door, through the lino covered hallway and finally into the dark empty staff locker rooms, where I then rolled the bike into a corner. After putting on the faded yellow cleaner's apron, which looked highly embarrassing on anyone, I walked out of the locker room, into the hallway and opened the cleaner's closet.

My work hours were spent cleaning up after customers and other staff members. Ironically, I couldn't keep my very own house clean. A builder's house is never finished, I thought. Most of the job was mopping the floor after someone, usually the elderly or the young after they'd had a bodily accident. Then there was dusting the shelves, keeping the staff kitchen clean and mopping the floors. But the worst job of all was cleaning the staff toilets. I found it hard to believe that the other employees were truly that disgustingly messy in their own toilets and I was pretty certain it was one of the few ways they bullied me at work. The _only_ positive aspect to this job was the amount of time I got to spend by myself and away from demanding customers, although today distraction from thoughts about the news would have been good for me.

Today my shift started off with cleaning the staff area and after a couple of anxiety-induced hours worrying about how the news I'd just seen on TV related to Jill, Mr Grey stormed into the staff hallway and approached me steaming.

Mr Grey was a short man, standing half a head lower than me. He was plump and overweight. He wore a tight white buttoned up business shirt that threatened to pop its buttons, as it was clearly a size or two too small, and slits of hairy belly skin could be seen through the gaps in the shirt.

"Hi Jacob. Have you mopped in here today?" he said glaring at me through his rectangular 80's spectacles.

"Yes sir, just half an hour ago," I replied placing the mop into the hallway cupboard and wiping my fringe back with my wrist.

"Right, okay," he replied in an unconvinced tone as he ran his hand through his receding light brown, sweat-soaked hair. "Well then… since you've cleaned up in here… I have a…err, another job for you… but I'm not sure you're up to the task, but nevertheless, you are my _only_ option that I'm left with, short of a rat... You see, Susan, the assistant in the kitchen appliance section, she had to leave early today… so I'm only left with you to cover the area, but be warned boy, I'll be keeping a close eye on you…"

I glanced at Mr Grey who had pointed his finger at me and seemed to shaking slightly from nervousness maybe?

"Um…Okay," I replied gritting my teeth, after all, what choice did I have? "Um, sir, did you have a think about increasing my..."

"... hours? No, haven't had time. Anyway, so take your apron off boy and put this on," Mr Grey scoffed at me, throwing me a bright red polo shirt, "and wear this with pride boy, as you won't be wearing if for long… I'm calling around to see if I can get one of the other part timers' to come in to cover that area as fast a possible… then you can go back to your... um, cleaning." He then turned on his heel and strutted out the door puffing, _"And cut your idiotic emo hair"_.

" _Wow, I get to be a sales assistant!"_ I silently mouthed sarcastically as Mr Grey's round body waddled off and out of sight. " _And what a cunt."_ But truth be told, Mr Grey's rants felt as though they barely absorbed into my skin - I had bigger worries on my mind.

I stuffed the rest of the cleaning gear into the cupboard and removed the apron, replacing it with the cheesy polo shirt. I then walked hesitantly out onto the shop floor, across the sporting department and into the kitchen appliance area.

Glancing around the department, I was pleasantly surprised to only see a small handful of customers in the store and I was sure I'd be able to avoid them until Mr Grey had found a replacement. I stood sheepishly idle in front of the range of toasters for sale that sat on a bland gray shelf and placed my hands into my pockets. Realizing that I had left the dust cloth in one of my pockets, I decided to pull it out and make it look like I was dusting the toasters – I had the sinking feeling that Mr Grey was watching me on the security cameras above.

Ten minutes later, I had unintentionally zoned out from a mixture of sleep deprivation and the growing anxiety for Jill – god I wished that she was okay – nothing else in existence seemed to matter.

A series of jarring pokes in the gap between my shoulder blade and collar bone suddenly pulled me back into the present. Irritated, I spun around and was faced with a tall stocky man in his mid-forties who could only be described as a hillbilly. Dressed in a dirty, oil-stained white singlet and ripped jeans, the Hillbilly stood at least a head and a half taller than me and brandished a toothless smile between his light brown straw like facial whiskers.

"What toaster you think is good?" the man breathed out heavily and I could smell the cigarette tar that lined his lungs. I revolted and took a step back, but he seemed to notice this and his expression hardened as if he had been offended.

I pointed to a random toaster (as I had no idea, they all looked like the same toasters to me).

"This – this one is good..." I said shakily from sleep deprivation and nervousness while the man locked his wide eyes on me.

"YOU LIAR!" the hillbilly spat angrily. "I BOUGHT THAT ONE LAST WEEK AND IT'S SHIT! IT ALWAYS BURNS MY FUCKING TOAST!"

I took another step back and glanced around in a panic. The few people that were in the store were now all staring intently at me, eager to see how the situation played out, but no one offered to help calm the man down.

"YOU LITTLE LYING PIECE OF SHIT!" the hillbilly continued to shout abuse, spit flying out from between his scruffy beard. "I'LL HAVE YOU HUNG LIKE THE PIG YOU ARE!"

The irate man advanced his huge body towards me in what seemed like slow motion. His face was contorted with fury and he held his hands up with clenched fists as though he was ready to throttle me. He continued to shout abuse at me non-stop, but by the time he was close enough to almost touch me, a rush of what felt like compiled fury within my chest reached its boiling point. My ears rung with a sudden high pitch scream, and desperate thoughts of Jill and my late mother flashed painfully in my head.

 _"…AND FEED YOU TO THE DOGS_!"

That was it, I snapped.

I lunged forward towards the man, and with my hands open-palmed, I pushed him with what felt like an incredible surge of strength against his soft, fatty torso. Then, I watched in disbelief as the man stumbled back as though time had slowed down, and the look on his face had turned to one of horror and surprise. After what felt like several seconds, the hillbilly toppled backwards landing with a thud against a stack of LCD TV's, then like dominoes, the TV boxes flopped over crashing to the floor with heart-wrenching popping sounds as their panels inside cracked.

There was no need to wait around for I knew what was coming next.

I jogged hurriedly off towards the back end of the store through the thick beady stares from the customers and other staff members. Swiping my staff card, I entered through into the "staff only" hallway and into the locker room where I then ripped off the staff uniform and put my own clothes back on. Slamming the locker door shut and swinging my bag over my shoulder, I stepped over to the stolen bike and pushed it at speed down the hallway and back out onto the shop floor.

The staff, who seemed to have swarmed around me now from out of their areas, stared at me with judging eyes and these glares pressured me to quicken my pace as I pushed the bike through the store and towards the sliding doors. As I turned the corner, the entrance, the door to my freedom, emerged, but to my demise, the disgruntled customer and Mr Grey stood off to the left of the exit and it appeared as though Mr Grey was trying to calm the unreasonable customer down.

I saw this as my only chance to escape, hopefully undetected, but as I broke into a run and narrowed closely towards the door, Mr Grey spotted me and started yelling with anger strewn across his fat face, but I could barely hear him above the ringing in my ears…

 _"…here you little shit!"_ – _"...I'm going to make you pay!"_

The hillbilly turned around and also spotted me, but then as I ran past, only a few feet from their outstretched grasping hands, I crossed the threshold of the store's doors of freedom and into the parking lot, where I rapidly swung my leg over the frame of the bike and started to pedal off… but the bike bogged down horribly and each difficult push on the pedal only carried me a short distance.

I glanced down and realized, to my embarrassment, that the tires were flat – someone had let the air out of them – and it could only have been one of the staff members. _Fuck them. Fuck them to hell._

Peering back at the store's entrance, where the employees had since gathered to _watch_ the spectacle unfold, the hillbilly and Mr Grey were now in pursuit of me, but they were barely managing to jog their overweight bodies, and as soon as they saw I had flat tires, the stopped breathlessly and their expressions turned to one of great amusement at my embarrassing misfortune – The people that had gathered around the entrance way were now all laughing at me and all I could manage was to heave the bike to the ground and run off across the parking lot and out of sight – Mr Grey was sure to call the police soon.

The sprint back home was adrenaline fueled and it had enabled me to quickly run the distance without stopping once. The glaring sun had since disappeared behind the hills and the cool brisk northerly early Winter air felt revitalizing against my overheating body – but as soon as I made it back to my house and inside its suffocating walls, the adrenaline tapered away and was replaced with the growing sense of dread about the implications of having lost my only source of income.

On the TV that I'd left on in the lounge, a sports presenter on the news channel was shouting enthusiastically about some team winning something - I couldn't care less.

Slumped and defeated at life, I dragging myself into the messy lounge and crumbled on the couch in front of the laptop, and although I was now physically beyond exhaustion, my mind darted to harrowing thoughts of Jill, but this only drove my anxiety level deeper, creating a conflict within myself; my body _desperately_ _yearned_ for sleep, but my mind refused to shut out the bedeviled thoughts.

A second later, my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and chuckled loudly with a maddened sort of laugh which started me. _Did I just laugh like a crazy person?_

Jill: _Hey Jake…. finally we've landed at the airport, and I hope this message makes it to you! I can't wait to see you when we get back home. See you soon. XOXO_

The anxiety and paranoia that had held me captive since the last Skype call with Jill suddenly lifted its enduring burden off my spirit, and before I'd even had a chance to reply to Jill's message, I collapsed from my exhaustion into a deepened slumber on the couch among empty packets of potato chips.


	26. Chapter 26 - THE LION OF DARKNESS

**CHAPTER 26 – THE LION OF DARKNESS and THE INFINITE SCREAM**

* * *

A sudden and abrupt banging on the front door rattled the hinges and pulled me out from my much needed sleep. It must be the police, I thought. They must have a search warrant.

Another three loud pounds on the door shocked me upright on the couch. Sitting stiffly, I waited nervously, unsure of what to do next.

"Jake! Its Jill… Are you home?" Jill's melodic tone waved through the door effortlessly; my body relaxed at the sound of her voice. Glancing around, I realized that my place was an absolute pigsty – Jill shouldn't see me like this!

"Arr..., _I'm home!_ " I yelled out clumsily while I pushed myself off the couch and attempted to quickly fix my hair in the mirror. "Coming! Just a sec!"

Pausing in front of the lounge mirror, I realized just how bad I looked. The bags under my eyes had mostly subsided after the recent sleep, but my shirt that hung off my back had holes through it and the odd takeaway stain. My pants were equally as dirty and although I couldn't detect it myself, I was sure that I smelled very unpleasant. I gave up on my unruly hair and on the fast paced walk to the front door, my stomach gurgled from hunger. How long had I slept for? After inhaling deeply, I grasped the door knob with my sweaty hand, turned, and then pulled the door open to the harsh daylight outside.

Rubbing my weary eyes as though I didn't believe what I was seeing, Jill stood only a couple of feet from me _(not an ocean away!)_ , but before I could say a word to her, she leaped at me with her arms wide open and embraced me with an enraptured hug.

" _I missed you so much Jake," s_ he whispered softly into my ear. _"…so much"._

"I missed you too," I replied pulling her warm body further into mine and relishing the scent of her ash blonde hair. "I'm so happy you're back, it's been so long…"

The lengthy hug came to a painful end – I had struggled to let Jill go – and then a silent, slightly awkward moment followed, but our eyes remained locked onto each others' intensively before Jill frowned slightly and glanced away.

"I'm sorry for leaving you Jake," Jill started as she turned her softened eyes back to me. "especially at the time when your mum passed away… I feel guilty for not being by your side… I should've been there to support you… I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You didn't know…you couldn't have possibly known it was going to happen." My voice wavered slightly but being in the presence of Jill made me feel somewhat secure again. "Besides, it kind of feels odd now, it was so long ago… l guess I've sort of, um… _adjusted._.." The image of me adjusting a knob on a "life machine" from "LIFE SUCKS" to the lowest setting on the machine, "LIFE SUCKS EVEN MORE THAN YOU COULD IMAGINE" came up quickly before I swatted it away. I reached out and grasped her soft hands. "Also you've helped loads of others. It's selfish of me want you all to myself... So, um, anyway, when did you arrive back home?"

"Late last night."

My stomach made another grumbling sound.

"Ha, what was that? Was that your stomach?" Jill asked with a lightened tone.

"Arr, yeah it was… um, what time is it?" I asked frowning slightly from the protest of my empty stomach.

Jill released her left hand from mine and turned her wrist upwards glancing at her watch. "It's almost two o'clock."

"...Really?" I yelped, surprised; my slumber had knocked me out for nineteen hours!

"Oh…sorry Jacob, were you asleep when I knocked?" Jill asked softly.

"Um, sort of… but it doesn't matter. Waking up to you, err, knocking on the door is nice," I replied quickly.

"So…have you had lunch yet?" Jill asked stealing a curious glance behind me through the gap in the door.

"No, not yet…have you...had lunch?" I asked moving slowly to block Jill's view through the gap in the door in such a way that she wouldn't notice.

"So Jake, I've just realized that I've never actually been _inside_ your house…" Jill glanced back at me with an intrigued, almost childish expression on her face.

"And? It's just a normal house...your house is warmer and bigger, there's been no reason to come to mine," I protested lightly.

Bad timing this was Jill, sorry.

I had dodged her entering my house before she left, mainly due to my mother's illness and the effect it had on my perception of our home, and now while the house was filthy from the non-existent cleaning, she wanted to come in. Bad timing.

Turning my shoulders around, I grasped the door knob and pulled the door closed, then I glanced guiltily back at Jill who now stood with her weight on one leg and had her eyebrows lowered in concern.

"Is everything okay in there?" Jill questioned. She had her arms on her hips now and for a second I thought she was going to start tapping her foot, but she didn't. Her expression was one of a light concern that only appeared to be half serious.

"Sorry Jill, look, to be honest, the last six months have been…well _absolute hell_... and the place is a mess, my life is all screwed up, honestly, you don't want to go inside, _trust me_." It felt good to be honest, and honesty came easy with Jill.

Jill's face seemed to soften right back. "…sorry, okay, I understand… you do look, um, well… unkempt."

My eyes darted uncomfortably around beyond where Jill was standing, for a short moment. I feared she might change her thoughts about me if she saw the state I'd been living in while she was overseas. Did I think Jill was that shallow? No, she can't be, it was my own insecurities.

"So, that last Skype call…? What the hell happened?" I asked intrigued, changing the subject to a question I was burning to ask her for weeks.

"Oh my gosh! It was incredible! Well incredible might be the wrong word but…" Jill trailed off suddenly and glanced behind her, seemingly at her house. "I've just had an idea…are you doing anything this afternoon?"

"Apart from cleaning – no… How come?" I replied curiously.

Jill gazed back at me with a renewed sense of mischief in her beautiful blue eyes; it was the same look she had when she took me ice skating, or as she like to call it "the-ice-skate-date".

"Have some lunch Jake, and meet me at my house at say, three o'clock?"

"Ha ha, yeah cool, okay," I replied coolly, feeling the rare sense of happiness that only Jill seemed to be able to draw out of me, simmer in my chest. "What do I need to bring?"

"Just your awesome self!" Jill mentioned as she all of sudden turned around like a ballerina and headed off down the pathway and towards her house in a joyful skip.

"AND BRING YOUR CUTE SMILE! …OH, AND A HOODIE!" she bellowed out from halfway across the street. The dark thought of her being hit by a car flashed in my mind; you've seen too many movies Jake, I reassured myself.

* * *

Three o'clock had arrived slowly – time seemed to have slowed over the last hour, but when I'm with Jill, time speeds up exponentially – another effect Jill had on my perception.

I had spent at least a quarter of the last hour standing dreamily under the hot water of the shower, amazed at how much happier I felt now that Jill was back. The mortgage, my lack of job, the police, Mr Grey, the grossly unreliable car – none of it seemed to matter anymore, not even the power bill I was currently increasing.

After the shower, I shaved the thin, adolescent stumble off my face and brushed my teeth, found some stain-free clothes to put on, and waxed my hair into the usual style. Now as I stood in the mirror, I was stunned to see the transformation that stared back at me. I had looked like a weathered homeless person before, but now my reflection appeared normal, a little brighter even. The remainder of the hour was filled with picking up the rubbish around the house and stacking the dishes in the kitchen, which finally cleared the pathways around the house and exposed the dirty carpet that would need to be vacuumed later on.

I checked myself one last time in the mirror before briskly walking down the stairs, through the lounge and out the front door into the cold outside air. Across the street I saw that Jill was reversing her father's white Chrysler out from the garage, its V8 engine gurgled softly. Jogging casually across the street, I spotted Jill through the rear window, she was reaching across the passenger seat and opening the door with a little bit of a struggle.

"Jump in!" she yelled out as the door finally opened ajar.

Lowering into the Chrysler and placing myself on the finely stitched leather seat before closing the door, I glanced curiously at Jill who had a huge cheeky grin on her cute face.

"Um…Jill, what's going on?" I questioned curiously.

" _You'll see_ …" She replied teasingly as she looked put the car into drive and pressed gently on the gas pedal. Jill drove the Chrysler at a much more civil pace then she did when she took us to the prom; driving down our street and to the left, I wanted to ask her where she was taking us as it felt like she was driving towards the town center. I fretted at the thought because being in town when the police were possibly looking for me didn't exactly appeal, and I had yet to tell Jill everything that'd happened over the last six months, but I didn't say anything; thought I'd just enjoy this sparse sense of freedom. Jill had turned the radio and it was left on a news station (her dad was last to use the car) where the presenter announced: "...so suit up, light the fire and stay warm..."

"Boring!" Jill said changing the frequency to some pop station; she then began singing overly enthusiastically, almost mockingly, at the song that thumped out from the speakers in the doors. Remaining somewhat silent and I guess a little shy and unsure of my own voice, Jill turned to look at me singing with a huge smile and bopping up and down in her seat; she was clearly very excited about something, and her energy was infectious and although I didn't sing along with her out loud, I was singing along with her in my head.

* * *

Twenty minutes later we had almost driven, thank god, through the suburbs and to the outer fringe of the town, where Jill pulled the car into a small convenient store car park, the last store before you left civilization and headed into the windy roads of the forest. She parked the Chrysler a few car parks to the left of the entrance and turned the engine off. Turning to me, she said beaming her pure white manicured teeth, "Just wait here, I'll be back shortly." I nodded, quietly sighed with content and as Jill hopped out of the car, I sneakily peeked at her jeans that contoured tightly around her sexy hips. _She's so fucking hot._ Watching her walk through the self-opening glass doors of the store, I spotted in the reflection a police car driving up towards the car park. Immediately I ducked into the wheel well where I stayed for what felt like forever in the uncomfortable bent over position, daring not to give into my curiosity to see if the policeman had left yet – I didn't want to risk it, not now. A moment later, the driver's door opened, startling me into sitting upright again, and couldn't help but to dart my eyes around the car park – but the police car had thankfully vanished. Jill jumped in the driver's seat and placed a plastic bag on the backseat.

"What were you doing down there Jake?" she asked as she started the car, looking at me curiously.

"I was um…my shoe laces had come undone…" I replied fretting slightly, but somewhat impressed by how good the excuse was. No, it wasn't an excuse, _it was a regretful lie_.

"Okay, cool, well we're almost at our destination, just another five more minutes or so. Hope you love it!" Jill said, seemingly not noticing my small moment of nervousness from the close call; Jackson Valley is only a small town where most people at least knew of each other, and if you got into trouble with the police, the entire, but small, team of the police would know your face.

Jill reversed out of the car park and headed further down the road, away from the town and towards the forest-blanketed hills.

* * *

About five minutes later we had arrived at the river where Jill had given me my first ice skating lesson, and as we turned towards the bridge, we passed the tree that we had carved our initials into; I glanced back and could make out the markings on the tree but couldn't see any detail. Then, after crossing the bridge, we turned off onto a road that I was more than familiar with: it was the dead end road that only headed to one building…the Old Town Hall, where the prom had been held some six months ago.

"Aha! I know where we are…" I started but Jill interrupted me suddenly.

"Shhh…don't say it! Let me think it's still a surprise…I should've blind folded you!"

Jill was taking me on a date to our special place.

We glanced at each other with eagerly excited smiles. We both wanted this so much and it was as though we had simply resumed our relationship, effortlessly. The last six months of torture had been erased from my memory, just like that. And somehow, it just felt right.

The next five minutes passed by strangely slowly in anticipation as we arrived to the Old Town Hall where Jill steered the car into a car park just in front of the bottom of the wide stairs that lead up to the huge entrance door and she then turned the engine off.

"We're here!" she exclaimed. "Can you help me carry some things from the boot?"

"Yeah...sure," I replied stepping out of the car.

Walking around to the rear of the car, I glanced at Jill as she leaned her hot body into the trunk and pulled out a backpack.

"You can carry this one," she mentioned as she heaved the bag into my chest before reaching back into the trunk and pulling out a soft guitar case.

"Geez…what's in the bag? It's really heavy…" I complained pushing my arms through the straps and tightening the bag closely to my shoulders.

"Jake, you know I can't tell you, but you'll find out soon. All I can tell you, is that it will be lighter to carry on the way back…" she replied as she threw the guitar over her shoulder and closed the trunk. She then reached into the back seat to retrieve the plastic bag and barked back at me, "Turn around."

"Ha ha, sure." I turned my back to Jill and heard the car door shut, and then a short moment later I felt the straps pull down on my shoulders as Jill stuffed what sounded like the plastic bag into the backpack.

The sun was still up and bright, but was heading swiftly towards the horizon; its heat seemed to be waning. A sun-bound breeze had picked up and although I wore a hooded sweater, I could feel the hint of winter ice in the breeze through the acrylic fabric. A dark line of clouds that looked like mashed up stained pillows were heading towards us, towards the sun. They worried me.

The car beeped and its doors clicked.

"Come on Jake, let's go!"

Jill and I walked up the grand entrance stairs in unison and fond memories of the prom night flashed in my head. Jill grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly as though she was having the same thoughts. The bad memories now felt insignificant. Having reached the closed entrance doors, we walked (and Jill occasionally skipped) the cobbled path that lead around the large old building and onto the open field that was surrounded on opposite sides by manicured gardens, and across from us, where we were headed, was the edge of the forest that bordered the outskirts of the town. Jill suddenly let her grasp on my hand go and broke off into a light, playful jog. I chased after her and although the backpack was heavy, Jill had managed to inject me with a sudden youthful burst of excited strength. Jill reached the edge of the forest soon afterwards and turned back to me with a cheeky smile, winking before continuing into the shaded canopy at a slower, more careful pace. I trailed closely behind and caught up with her thirty feet inside the forest shadow. The temperature under the tree tops was significantly cooler and the partially leaf-covered dirt felt damp and soft under my shoes. As I walked behind Jill carefully stepping in between roots on the ground, the Skype call played on my mind again. "Jill?"

"Yes Jake?" she replied without stopping.

"You know that last Skype call we had...what, happened?" I asked with a stubborn curiosity.

"Oh yeah, it was crazy – and really weird. It was kind of a blur, now that I look back at it." Jill slowed her pace now, reflecting on the memory. "Yeah so I was talking to you, then people outside were going crazy, yelling terrorist and all that. Then I pretty much got pulled out of the tent by one of the other Americans, and we started running towards the vehicles, I guess to escape, but as we got closer I realized my parents were still at the camp. So I headed back down to the tent I thought they were in, which was the opposite direction of where everyone else was going. Everyone was in a panic. I was still completely unaware of what was happening. All the people around me were shouting in Arabic and I didn't understand. Anyway, once I got back down to the tent, that's when I saw her." Jill stopped and turned around to face me. Her voice had become breathless, as though the memory had stolen the air from her lungs; or maybe because she had just jogged across the field.

"Who did you see?" I asked complete engrossed in her memory.

"I saw a girl who was maybe twelve or thirteen; Ameera was her name, and I will never forget her. She was walking slowly, aimlessly down the dirt road towards the camp, like she was mentally torn between two harrowing possibilities. Her stark black hair was covered in a green cowl that failed to hide her dirty face. The rest of her was covered in a loose fitting dress that contoured strangely around her like in an unnatural kind of way. And then I realized...she was a suicide bomber. I tell you Jake, I will never forget the look on her face, her look of horror, desperation and confusion – and that's when an irresistible urge of compassion flooded through me and before I knew it I was running _towards_ her. I could hear my parents yelling at me to come back, but I defied them, I felt like I had no control over my body and by the time I reached her, she had collapsed to her knees on the road before me and gazed up completely baffled. She was sobbing and weakly shouting something to me in Arabic and although I didn't understand what she was saying, I could tell she was yelling at me to get away, but her eyes told me she was scared, that she needed help. She lifted her dress and revealed the belt. It looked like something from out of the movies and it all felt so unreal."

" _Oh my god...Jill!_ " I exclaimed with great disbelief. Jill turned her back to me again and we resumed our walk through the cold shade of the forest keeping close to the wire fence.

"Yeah I know it was crazy! Then I just kind of took the belt off the poor girl and we walked towards the camp. By then, people had calmed down a bit after seeing the belt come off...which didn't go off obviously; it must have been a dud. Then everything after that happened so fast. We packed our things as the girl explained to our camp guide that the terrorists were closing in on us. We left the same day and drove over the border to Turkey and...yeah, back to America."

"...I heard on the news only a couple of days ago about a camp being attacked? Was that the camp you were..." I trailed off, barreled in a state of disbelief.

"Yeah, it was. I overheard my dad mentioning to someone over the phone about how lucky we were to be able to leave when we did. I feel sorry for Ameera. I really hope she's okay."

While we pondered in silence about how fragile our lives really were, we followed the fence line for a thoughtful and lengthy ten minutes before emerging from the thick cover of the canopy and out onto the open, elevated clearing that overlooked the town on the left and the rest of the never-ending rolling forest hills on the right. The only tree in the clearing, a fig tree, which had wrapped its smooth, almost liquid like roots around a cluster of rocks near the bank's edge, partially shaded a small area of the smoothed flat rock on which Jill stood peering outwards at the magnificent landscape of densely spaced pine trees that appeared to morph into a green blanket out into the distance. The air was dead still up here; the clearing seemed to be naturally orientated in such a way that it was sheltered from the cold wind.

"Come and feel this!" Jill shouted from the middle of the flat rock a few meters away from the edge and as I walked over to her, she bent down and placed her palms on the flat, dark grey stone.

"What is it" I asked intrigued as I lowered myself down to Jill's squatting height.

"Touch it," she replied shortly.

After removing the burdening backpack, and placing it carefully next to me on the ground, I pressed my hands to the rocky surface and gasped, "Ahhh, it's nice and warm! The sun must've heated it during the day, and now it's releasing the heat slowly… Cool!"

"I love these little tricks nature has," Jill said pressing her check on the rock as though the rock was whispering to her. Jill lay bathed on her back on the stone with her arms and legs out stretched, like a snow-less snow angel, looking towards the heavens.

"This is really nice Jill," I mentioned as I marveled at the deepening red shade of orange from the west horizon that gradually faded to the darkening evening sky; some bright stars had managed to pierce through the Earth's patchy atmosphere early. "So….."

"So…" Jill repeated. "Oh yeah, we should probably gather some wood before it gets dark."

"Huh? Wood?"

"Yeah, for our camp fire tonight!" she said as she sat up.

"…camp fire? Are we staying here the night?" I asked a little unsure of Jill's plan.

"Ha ha, no, not the night… But I have made you something special that I hope you like, but that's for later, for now we need to get some wood." Jill chuckled through her smile and stood up, then opened the backpack and pulled out a little ax. "Are you up for it?" she asked with a slightly crazed look in her eye.

"Yep, sure am, let's go!" I answered with little enthusiasm as the idea of staying out here in front of the fire had me out of my comfort zone; the clouds worried me too.

We both got up and headed only a few trees into the forest where I started snapping little twigs off and stacking them closely to my chest while Jill hacked away at some slightly larger twigs.  
After ten minutes or so, and a few trips back and forth to the clearing with handfuls of firewood, we then gathered nearby rocks and placed them on the flat rock in a circle formation; we then pulled the only large size of wood we could find, which was a small trunk, out onto the clearing and laid it down close to the fire pit.

"How are we going to get this fire started?" I asked Jill as I headed over to the backpack.

"Ah! Don't touch! I'll get it!" she abruptly said and she jogged over to me and stood between me and the bag. She reached into the backpack and pulled out a yellow and red firelighter box and a lighter and turned towards me, grinning.

Pyromaniac, I though amused.

"I got it all covered, except for one tiny thing." Jill said mischievously.

"…and that is?"

"I've never made a fire before… Do you know how to?"

"Ha ha, yes…I went to scouts for a little bit, when I was younger."

"Okay phew, can you teach me?"

"Of course, I'd love to."

Jill handed me the firelighters and we knelt down beside each other by the stack of firewood next to the rock circle.

"First we have to put the firelighters in the middle, might as well use them all, then we put the smaller twigs on first and arrange them like a tepee, this way the firelighters still get sufficient air." I turned and glanced momentarily at Jill who seemed to be listening intently to my instructions as I arranged the twigs so that they leaned on each other at acute angles around the firelighters that sat on the rock floor. "And then you light the lighters and wait until the small twigs have caught fire…" I flicked the lighter and the fire caught straight away, a short time later after the twigs had caught fire, I then stacked the larger pieces over the fire, again at acute angles. "That's it!"

"Cool, Jake, thanks for that," Jill said as she turned to face me; the fire's reflection flickered in her blue topaz eyes.

I took another brief moment to absorb how pretty Jill was before we both sat on the log behind us. I'd come close to losing her in Syria, and after hearing her talk about Ameera, it made me all the more appreciative of where we both were tonight – in each other's company.

"Now for your surprise!" she said as she leaned over to the backpack and pulled it towards herself; she then pulled out a bright orange insulated warmer bag. "Hope you're hunger Jake," she continued while she unzipped the thick layered warmer bag. "…because I made you…macaroni cheese!"

Jill pulled out a glass container and opened up the lid sending the delicious aroma of cooked cheese into the dusk air and into my nostrils. My stomach protested – it hadn't had a proper meal for weeks.

"It's the first meal that I've ever made… hope it's going to taste okay…hope you like it."

"Thank you Jill, I'd be absolutely honored to share your first ever cooked meal with you."

Jill then turned back to the bag, retrieved two forks and handed one to me. We dug into the dish eagerly.

"How is it?" Jill asked with her mouth half full.

"It's…kind of…" I teased.

"Come on…tell me!" Jill urged sending her free hand into my shoulder playfully.

"Well, it's actually really good…" I replied grinning after I'd finished my mouthful. "You'd make a good housewife one day."

Jill shoved me again, lightly chuckling.

The fire continued to crackle and from time to time would pop, sending a cluster of sparks dancing up into the night sky; the sparks ascended twirling erratically giving the almost static night sky a bit of fiery flair.

"I have another surprise…" Jill mentioned as the last of the dinner was gobbled up. She put the lid back on the dish, placed the container back into the warmer bag then she put the bag aside. Jill then lent over and grabbed the guitar that was lying on the ground next to her. Removing the instrument from its protective shell, she placed the guitar on her lap and cleared her throat.

"Are you going to serenade me by the campfire?" I asked warmly. " _Because you know I'd love it…_ "

Jill smiled in response but didn't say anything; it appeared as though she was deep in concentration.

The right side of her face was brightly lit from the flickering campfire light, the left side of her face was cast in deep shadow.

She took in a deep breath and seemed to relax as she breathed out. Her fingers slowly glided over the strings, gently stroking them in a foreign way, producing a heavenly, harp-like tune of a sort I'd never heard before. She then sung a song in what sounded like a mixture of Spanish and French but whatever language it was, her voice immersed me in a way that was seductive and sensual... My chest fluttered overwhelmingly and I felt the urge to lean closer to her, and as she continued to play her serene melody, I raised my hand to her chin and gently lifted her gaze away from the guitar and towards me, and although now she slowly stopped playing the song, the tune still continued sweetly in my head. The fire reflected in her eyes only inches from mine and my reflected eyes in her eyes reflected the fire also. We drew closer still until our lips slowly pressed against each others. Jill's lips were slightly moist and were soft like the pads of a puppies paw. A sensation burst in my chest and it felt as though my heart had suddenly been teleported out of me and into the ecstasy of the stars. The slow kiss lasted for an eternity of euphoria, and my senses faded away; the forest around us quickly dispersed out and disappeared. Only the heat of the fire remained just for our comfort, as it seemed.

Overwhelmed, but in a good way, I pulled away, but only an inch, and stared lovingly into Jill's eyes. "Jill…" I paused as though I was trying to read her thoughts through her sparkling eyes. "Jill, I love you."

"HEY! HEY! PUT THAT FIRE OUT! PUT IT OUT NOW!" a man screamed from below the cliff. My senses flooded back groggily, almost painfully.

"PUT THE FIRE OUT NOW! IT'S DANGEROUS AND ITS A AGAINST THE LAW! I'M COMING UP THERE!"

Jill broke out in a laugh of rushed excitement. " _Oh, my god… Jake!_ We better go before he catches up to us!"

"I'M COMING…AND I WILL REPORT YOU!"

I chuckled back at Jill, "Yeah, we should really go!"

A beam of light struck the tree tops behind us. I stood up and peered over the edge and could see the origin of the light beam; it was quickly approaching us.

We roughly stuffed the guitar into its bag and zipped up the backpack, which was a bit lighter than on the walk here. We scuttled into the forest guided only by the light of our phones and the feel of the wire fence.

The ranger's shouts diminished as we made our way deeper into the forest. Adrenaline pumped through my head – I'd never had this kind of high before. We giggled at each other every other second from over-excitement and as we continued our heightened pace through the forest we kept stumbling over the ground roots but we would laugh our clumsy trips off. We felt untouchable, invincible. We made it out onto the dimly-lit field in short time and continued to sprint across the dew covered grass with a boundless youth. Snow had started falling around us and appeared to get denser the closer we got to the Hall; it was a little early for snow I thought but then I remembered the radio announcer mentioning something about staying warm? Was the weather turning?

After crossing the field, we darted around the side of the Old Town Hall, down the icy grand stairs and to the Chrysler, throwing the bags onto the back seat, before jumping inside in a mixture of panic and excitement. Jill hurriedly put her seat belt on, started the engine, did a quick u-turn (tires squealing) and headed us back down the forest-encroached road, fast – the car's acceleration pushed me back into my seat and the Old Town hall lights that reflected in the side mirror, quickly faded out of sight. Before the first of the windy corners came up, Jill seemed to notice the worsening weather and lifted the accelerator back to a safer, but still quickened pace as she carefully concentrated for the next moments on the darkening, icy corners of the road, taking them at a more reasonable speed. Jill seemed to be a bit jittery, almost hyper, as though she enjoyed the sudden rush of nearly being caught, but worried about the consequences that could have been, regardless, I stared at her with a freshened admiration at how amazing she's made me feel tonight and at how well she was able to drive. This was the best night I'd ever experienced and it was all thanks to Jill, and Jill alone.

I mulled about her and what our future would be like together…would we run away to another state? Or would we settle down here? So many possibilities and the only certainty to all this was that I knew, irrevocably and without a doubt, that I couldn't live without her.

* * *

At the bottom of the hill, Jill turned the car hard right and headed towards the bridge, the car's V8 exhaust notes reverberated like a lion's roar through the valley as the gears shifted. The bridge itself was only half lit by moonlight; the hazy hills that were now behind us blocked the moon's rays on the closest half of the bridge. Jill glanced at me with a look of sheer joy as she pressed down hard on the accelerator and focused back in front of her to the bridge that we had since half crossed. Without warning, Jill's face dropped with a look of utter terror and she swiveled the steering wheel frantically to the right as though she was trying to avoid hitting something on the road. I jerked sideways in my seat. The car careered towards the right, its tires struggling for grip and I instinctively broke my stare away from Jill and scanned, all in a slowed split second, beyond her and out the driver's window, I thought I could see a contorted human-shaped shadow morph into the darkness between the trees on the other side of the road, but before I could make sense of anything, my eyes darted back to Jill; her hands had released the steering wheel and were now on her chest in a defensive position. Time then horribly sped back up. The front of the car that was now perpendicular to the road and completely out-of-control was heading rapidly towards the tree-lined river bank.

The last thing I remembered before I passed out was feeling the violent vibrations under my seat from the rough dirt of the bank's ground as the car surged off the road; the blur of the rapidly approaching tree trunks and the unforgettable nightmare-inducing sound of Jill's harrowing scream just before the impact.

When I momentarily regained consciousness, Jill's scream resided in my head indefinitely before another sound overlapped it – the low growling of a V8 speeding close by, and then before I slipped back into unconsciousness, I turned my throbbing head and glanced at Jill through my blurry vision – she was completely still, but her screams still rung loudly in my head – and that's when I went back under the darkness.


	27. CH27- UNDER THE CLOAK OF RELENTLESS RAIN

**CHAPTER 27 – (GHOSTS) UNDER THE CLOAK OF RELENTLESS RAIN**

* * *

I awoke again sometime later and it was now dark. My head pounded painfully, like I'd been hit over the head with a sledge hammer, and a screeching high pitch ring in my left ear persisted over the light pattering of snow falling around the car. But beneath the painful ringing, I could hear Jill groaning and gasping violently for breath. My neck felt stiff as I forced my head to the left to see her; my blurry vision strained to focus on Jill, and instead was focusing beyond her, at the tree that the car had slide into, and the sight left me stunned with a begotten dread: the moonlight glared through the car windows and beamed a ray onto the tree trunk, seemingly directly on the carving Jill and I had done last winter; a small splatter of blood had partially filled some of the carved-out crevasses. The carving appeared to be fading away in the distance, but after a gentle scrapping noise became more apparent, I realized that the car was sliding slowly down the river bank.

My mind panicked, but my body felt too weak, too injured to act.

I strained my eyes and focused on Jill who continued to make sickening, wheezing sounds. Her head was bowed onto her chest and her hair covered her face. My neck protested with short sharp pains as I slowly managed to twist my body towards her. Reaching my hand up to her head, I tucked her soft hair behind her ear.

"Jill, Jill! Jill, wake up! Please!" I pleaded breathlessly to her, but she didn't respond.

Jerkily, I moved my hand around to her chest and lifted her chin up. Her chin was wet with a thin layer of blood – she was bleeding on the other side of her head.

"Jill, please Jill! You have to wake up!" I weakly cried out lowering her chin back down to her chest gently, but she remained unresponsive, her violent gasps had changed to quick short breaths.

"Jill! Please! Please, I beg you! WAKE UP!"

Jill's short breaths reduced, and her chest stopped rising up and down. My focus kept wavering from her peaceful face to the carving on the fading tree and I realized that Jill, the love of my life, was slipping away.

"... _Jake..."_

The sound of wailing sirens started echoing through the valley, and it was the sound of angels, the sound of hope to save Jill, and it couldn't have come quickly enough, but the minute before help arrived at the scene ticked by as though it was an eternity.

My vision blurred in and out of a black static, I struggled to remain conscious.

"Quick, we don't have much time. We need to get her out now!" a male voice said from somewhere outside my fading vision as I felt the front of the car slip slowly into the river's freezing water.

" _Jake..."_ Jill gasped out weakly.

"Jill! ...it's okay, helps on the way..." I slurred out, feeling my head spin violently.

I blacked out again.

The next moments flashed by in a haze. Ambulance staff pulled me out of the wreckage and they kept yelling at me to "let go", then as two other emergency staff ripped me away from the distorted car, more personnel descended on the crash site carrying heavy ropes.

The pain in my head and neck faded and now seemed insignificant as I fought to break free from the ambulance staff. A couple of firefighters had been called in to reinforce the tightly held grip on my arms while I thrashed out in desperation, screaming out for Jill. Then, as I was forcibly made to approach one of the ambulances, I felt a fresh stinging pain in the side of my neck.

"Thanks Jerry, that'd knock him out."

Someone must've injected me with a sedative; suddenly my eye lids felt like lead and my legs started to wobble. My vision blurred again and I felt an overwhelming sense of defeat as I was lifted helplessly into the back of the ambulance. The rear door slammed shut and the crash scene disappeared from view and just as the black spots grew, obscuring my vision completely, the sedative kicked in fully knocking me unconscious...

* * *

The clinical smell of hospital reminded me of my mom's passing; I awoke to a monotonous beeping noise and a blinding white light that pierced through my closed eye lids. The sound of footsteps got louder and I opened my eyes slowly, turning my head away from the glaring light above me and towards the pattering sound of soles against the hard floor.

A man in a blue coat now stood next to my bed.

"Jacob...how are you feeling?" he asked nervously with a concerned expression on his white, pasty face.

"Jill! Where is Jill?" I cried out, barely registering that I'd been asked a question.

"Hmm..." The man hesitated for a brief and thoughtful second before turning around and striding off.

"WHERE IS JILL?" I screamed at the man'S back as he walked out of the room. I reached out of my lying position only to find I'd been strapped down by my arms and ankles.

A moment later, the sound of numerous footsteps pattered towards the room door; the man in the blue coat had returned, and two police officers were flanked on either side of him. One of the officers looked sternly, while the younger one's expression seemed to quiver, as though he was fighting to hold back a strong emotion. I recognized the officers as the men who had interrogated me about Sam's disappearance and his severed hand.

The three men stood in a brief discussion a few feet from my bed.

"He should be able to talk now. He's being sedated to take the edge off his, um, aggressiveness," murmured the doctor to the police officers.

"Thanks for your help doc," the senior officer said as he handed a clipboard to the doctor. "We'll take it from here."

"Not a problem, Officer Williams," the doctor replied blankly. "...and if you don't mind...I'll be staying here, um, while you question him..."

"Sure. Doc." Officer Williams snorted and he then cocked his head and peered at me intensely. "Jacob, hi. You remember me, Officer Williams, and my partner Officer Davis?"

 _"...yeah..."_

"We have a few questions to ask you... is this okay?"

"S _ure,_ _whatever..."_ I replied weakly. The sedative was doing its intended job on relaxing my body but not my brain or its desperate state. ".. _.where's Jill?_ "

"Jacob, I'll talk to you about Jill soon, but first you have to answer some of my questions..., okay?"

" _...yes...okay...yes..."_

"Good. Okay, let's start with the time just before the crash. What were you and Jill doing leading up to the incident?"

"... _we were hanging out...around the Old Town...Hall..."_ The words slipped past my lips seamlessly, almost involuntarily.

 _"_ Doing what, exactly?"

"... _Jill had taken me on a date to the cliff..."_

"Did she seem her, um, normal self?"

" _Huh? ...yes..."_ I answered somewhat puzzled by the officer's question. _"...why do you ask?"_

The officer didn't answer my question, instead he glanced momentarily out the window before returning his sternly stare at me. "Were you aware that Jill didn't have her parents' permission to take their car?"

 _"...no..."_

"...and were you aware that lighting a fire in the forest is not only dangerous, but it's also strictly not permitted?"

" _...no, I didn't know..."_

"Are you absolutely sure that Jill was not acting out of character at all?"

" _NO! ...she was her normal, perfect self..."_

 _"_ And yourself Jacob. You've had quite a few recent tragedies. I'm sorry about your mom," the officer said with obvious insincerity. "Having to deal with that at such a young age... Your education suffered. You were expelled from school because drugs and a weapon were found in your bag?"

" _Yes, but it wasn't..."_

"And the school was kind enough to offer you a position at the department store where another incident took place? I believe Mr. Grey is pursuing you for compensation in some form or another, which doesn't concern us at this moment. But what does concern us is that Sam is still missing, and the first day that Jill is back in town she's caught up in this incident, involving you. Jacob, you seem to be quite a bright dot on our radar, son. So with this in mind, can you please help us how the crash happened?

 _"Do you think I caused the crash?"_ The thought of harming Jill made me feel overwhelmingly sick.

"We're considering ALL possibilities... Alright, let's move on to the crash: Would you know where the dash camera is?"

 _"Dash camera? What are you talking about?"_

"The car had a dash camera in it Jacob, but we have not been able to find it at the crash site yet... Can you tell me then how the crash happened?"

The doctor seemed to shift uneasily at this question and he pulled the officer aside where they murmured for a short time before the officer turned his attention back to me.

"Tell me Jacob, what happened. How did the crash happen?"

" _I...I...I don't know...! It was an accident..."_ I groaned out, barely managing now to speak audibly due to the sedative's strong effect. "... _we were crossing the bridge when Jill swerved off the road... she was trying to avoid... "_ I trailed off disjointedly.

"...to avoid hitting something on the road...an animal or something?"

" _I don't know...I didn't see... I wasn't really looking..."_ I struggled out. " _...but, I think there was a shadow..."_ I started, but then hesitated, realizing that I might sound mental to the officers, so I covertly changed "...sorry, _another car..."_

"Another car?" Officer Williams perked up at the possible lead. "Did you see this car? Can you describe it for me?"

" _...no, I didn't see it... I only heard it..."_

A look of doubt flushed through on both the officers faces. "It was probably just background traffic, or the engine of the crashed car...nothing significant," the younger officer mumbled to his senior.

" _Jill...where is she?"_ I asked again in desperation, feeling a swirling of dread gathering pace inside my chest.

The older officer paused while the doctor whispered into his ear. The doctor nodded slightly and walked towards me and stood off to the side of the bed, out of my view.

The senior officer nodded at the doctor, took a noticeably deep breath then softened his look slightly.

"We've had everyone on the case for the past..." Officer Williams began.

"Sir, if I may?" the younger officer toned in. "I'll take this one if I may? I need the practice."

"Sure Davis, go ahead," Officer Williams said coldly.

"Jacob, as this is a active investigation, there are certain details that I cannot disclose," Officer Davis said stroking his adolescence-attempt at a beard. "Most of the office has been working on this case, but so far what we have made public is that after the crash, Jill went missing."

 _"Jill went missing? What am I doing here? What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be out looking for her?"_ I blurted out worryingly.

"Jacob," the doctor interrupted placing his hand on my shoulder.

 _"Get off!"_ I shouted weakly.

"Doc, it's okay," Officer Williams said authoritatively. "Carry on Davis."

"So as I was saying, before I got interrupted, is that we've had the forensics team checking over the crash site and so far the only thing we've found is a trail of blood leading from the where Jill was seated to the river's edge. The driver's door was mangled shut and with the injuries she likely sustained, it would be near impossible for her to have climbed out on her own. We do however think that someone removed Jill from the car and carried her into the water. The question is why?"

 _"The ambulance staff pulled her out. I heard them!"_ I said confusedly.

"No Jacob, they didn't. When the emergency staff got to the scene, Jill was not there."

 _"What? No. I don't understand."_ My voice quivered more so than ever before. _"Why are you guys not looking for her? She must be lost in the forest...she needs help..we need to get her to the hospital."_

"Jacob, we have been looking for her for the past fortnight." Officer Davis said smugly.

 _"A fortnight? How long have I been here for?"_ I said bewildered, feeling the walls of the room starting to warp.

"Son, when you were admitted here, you had significant head injures. We had to place you into an induced coma, which seemed to help you recover very quickly indeed," said the doctor who had seemed to have relaxed a little.

 _"So where is she then?"_ I gasped out loud as I felt a new wave of sedative enter my body. _"Jill...my love..."_

"That's the million dollar question," Officer Williams said. "And one that we are hoping you can shed some light on."

 _"You think I had something to do with her disappearance?"_

"Not her disappearance Jacob..." Officer Davis said almost proudly."With the injuries Jill likely received in the crash, and the weeks that she has been out in the elements, it is highly unlikely we'll find her _alive_.

 _"NO JILL...!"_ The sedative now vanquished my body to the point where I could barely move at all. But it didn't subdue any of the desperate cries for Jill in my head. _"My...love..."_

* * *

The doctors were surprised at how fast I had recovered from my head injuries yet they refused to let me go; it took two days of convincing the doctors before the hospital felt safe to discharge me (they thought I wasn't safe from myself). But it was two days I could've been out there searching for Jill. She was still alive - I couldn't explain it, _but I felt her_. The house was once again barren, cold and now it was also colorless. The little food I managed to eat was tasteless, and the little sleep I had was restless and de-energizing. There was no life without Jill, only heartache and an abyss of loneliness. Recurring terrors from the crash filled my every thought. I felt angry, confused and obliterated. Who the hell took Jill? Who caused the crash? Why didn't I do more in Jill's time of need?

I had suffered a life time of traumatic loss in my short life and I pleaded foolishly to God to end this hurt. Fuck that, God cannot help me, he never could. He couldn't help my mom or Jill. My pleading prayers to him were no more. What little faith or hope of there being a god was wiped completely off my map. I'll search for Jill until it killed me. Being dead would at least take my pain and suffering away; I might even see Mom. Regardless, I couldn't live with this insufferable sorrow and burden. I had to look for Jill.

The drive to the crash site was sketchy; the cold had settled in for the afternoon and the road was starting to ice up. The old Toyota was unsafe in the best conditions. To make matters worse, I could feel the clutch starting to slip - this would be a repair I definitely couldn't afford. Steering the car off to the side of the bridge, I was disheartened to find the area deserted. Where was everybody? Had they stopped looking for Jill? It didn't matter - I would find her. Hopping out of the car and stepping into the low snowdrift I made my way to tree that the car hit, the tree that was home to our carving. The initials that Jill and I carved out were still there but it looked slightly different; Jill's blood had been cleaned off it and the carving itself looked deeper as though someone had re-etched it with a tool. It was strange and my although the rational part of my brain reasoned that this must have been the work of the forensics team, I took it as a sign that someone wanted me to see this. I will find Jill.

Hours passed. Hundreds of tree stumps and bushes searched - but nothing. I had wandered along the river bank for miles shouting out Jill's name so often that my throat had become raw. No reply. Not even the animals returned my calls. My stomach lurched with hunger and my lips cracked from dryness. The sun had fallen behind the hills and the forest had turned a dark grey as night approached. Better head back, I thought, but even as I followed back my trail along the river, something seemed off; that rock that was sticking out of the snow like a finger - hadn't I just walked past that? And that tree branch that reached out towards the river as though it was a witch's arm reaching for a child to eat, hadn't I seen that too? I was lost. Keep going, keep walking along the river and you'll get back to the car. But it become night and there was still no sign of the car.

"Jill!" I shouted out once more, but this shout was now a cry for help. I was cold, hunger and hopeless lost and I was sure the forest was going to take me tonight.

A torrent of force from behind me swept me off my feet and a knocking erupted in my head.

"Jacob! Open up!" a firm, familiar voice said. "Jacob, it's Officer Williams, please open up!"

"Huh?" I exclaimed sleepily. "Where...how did I?" I gazed around the my messy lounge, dazed after the vivid nightmare.

"Jacob! It's the police. Open up!"

"Yeah, yeah, coming. Just wait," I shouted weakly out as I rose slowly off the couch, my body ached all over as though I had just ran a marathon.

"Hi Jacob...I'll get straight to the point," Officer Williams said as he and his partner, Officer Davis, stood staunch in the entrance way. "We have a warrant to check your house for evidence to assist us in our investigation concerning the car crash you were involved in." Officer William's eyes narrowed.

"What? ...Now?" I questioned.

"We have a warrant Jacob. Can we come in?" Officer Davis injected.

"Sure...whatever," I replied grumpily. "So you do suspect me then?"

"Jacob, sit down." Officer Davis said forcibly. "We have news, about Jill."

"You found her?" I said eagerly taking a seat.

"Jacob, there's no easy way to say this," Officer Williams hoarsely said as he sat on the adjacent seat. "A body was found early this morning that matched Jill's description. I'm sorry Jacob. This case is now a homicide, and it falls on me heavily to say this...you're a suspect, and that is why we have a search warrant."

"No, I, err...she can't be..." I stammered, feeling as though someone had just knocked the wind out of me. "Where...was...she...found?"

"Sorry Jacob, these are details we cannot discuss right now. Look, I know you and Jill were close, and I'm sure you want to help us get to the bottom of this. The best thing you can do right now is to let us search through your home."

"You think I killed her? How? By dragging her into the river? _What the fuck?_ " I said incomprehensibly in a state of bewildered shock as the room around me darkened in misery, the thought made me grossly sick.

"We never said anything about the river Jacob. Look, we will be roughly an hour or so. In the mean time, we ask that you stay in this room."

"Okay..." The color in the wallpaper around me dissolved into a murky gray.

I remained on the couch while the two officers made their way upstairs where I could hear them banging and crashing as they rummaged through my belongings. Almost an hour later the noise ceased and the officers made their way down the staircase, strutting into the den with looks of triumph on their faces. Officer Davis was holding my laptop under his arm.

"Why have you got my laptop?" I asked worryingly, knowing that there was a lot of dark, suicidal searches in the browser history.

"Well Jacob, its normal procedure to seize these communication devices, but also in this case we have found a disturbing file in your recycling bin," Officer Davis gloated.

"Huh, what do you mean?" I asked on the verge of sobbing.

"The file labelled 'Jake and Jill, forever'. We opened it up... and Jacob, it's extremely obsessive and concerning, to say the least."

"It was only a stupid song I made when Jill was overseas... _I didn't mean..."_ I pleaded with frustration but the blank stares on the officers' faces told me that they didn't care.

Officer Williams's said radio crackled to life. " _I need a nearby unit to respond urgently to a ten thirty one on Summerton Street. Available unit please respond."_

"We'll have to take this call," Officer Davis mentioned to his senior. "We're the only unit nearby."

"Yes, right. Okay Jacob, we'll have to come back later and get an official statement from you. I have taken photos of all the rooms upstairs; please remain downstairs until we return. We'll be in touch."

The officers quickly got up off the seats and trotted out, although Officer Davis couldn't resist in giving me more advice. "Oh and a strong word of advice Jacob - don't leave town...and you should probably call a lawyer."

* * *

The path ahead me was clear and I could see the headlines now:

 _Lover commits suicide at crash site where his girlfriend died. Sweet but tragic._

As soon as the cop car was out of sight, I headed outside to the backyard, retrieved the garden hose and walked around to the rusty Toyota where I struggled to open the boot. Pushing my longing thoughts for Jill and a strengthening blame aside momentarily, I shoved the hose and a roll of duct tape into the boot of the car glancing around to make sure no one was watching. The only good thing about this old Toyota is that it didn't have a catalytic converter and this meant that the carbon monoxide would put me to sleep quickly.

Heading back inside, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. Did my mom have any medicine? Maybe she kept a stash of pain killers that would aid me in my suicide? I made my way quickly upstairs, but I hesitated momentarily just outside her door before I stepped in; I hadn't been in my mother's room since she'd passed away.

Darkness enveloped the room in a murky yellow light. The curtains had remained closed and the room was much colder than the hallway on the other side of the door. A musty, almost decaying smell hit me straight away, but it wasn't enough for me to gag for I could detect traces of my mom's perfume within the room's aroma and memories of her started to flood my thoughts. I pushed forward and headed to her bedside cabinet and turned the bedside lamp on. If she had any medication – it would be around here. Pulling the cabinet drawer open, I spotted a couple of little white pill bottles, but upon further inspection, I realized that they were merely vitamin pills. Placing the bottles back into the draw, a yellow, old piece of parchment that had sat underneath the bottles caught my eye. I pulled the paper out and gazed at it for a minute.

It appeared old and fragile; foreign symbols and an unknown language adorned the yellow surfaces. Turning the paper over, I noticed that one of the edges folded into itself, like an envelope, and that the package was humped in the middle – something was inside it.

Carefully, I eagerly pulled the folded section out. The entire parchment seemed to spring open and an object from inside fell out, dropping to the floor. The small circular object on the floor shimmered in the lamp's light – it appeared to be a ring. I bent down, picked it up and held it between my fingers, close to my face.

The ring was sculpted in rose gold and had a pure, ultra-smooth texture. A single square-cut blood-red ruby was set, slightly raised into the middle of the band. The ring's slightly petite size suggested that it was a female's ring, and it only managed to just fit onto my little finger.

I turned back to the parchment that had unfolded itself onto the bed spread and picked it up.

"Dear Wendy," the words started at the top left of the page – it was a letter – address to my mom.

But the rest of the words were presumably in French, and the only part that I could make out was the last line: _Yours forever, R. Marsden._

I didn't understand...was this a letter from my father? What did it matter anyway?

I folded the parchment back up along its heavily creased lines and stuffed it into my pocket before swiftly heading back downstairs, and as I made it into the den, a knock on the door startled me.

"Officer Davis and Williams. Jacob please open the door."

* * *

The next day arrived in a sleepless, anxiety-driven blur. My concept of time had vanished. Rain had set in overnight and was relentlessly heavy; its sound was drowning upstairs as it lashed on the roof.

The officers who searched my house had turned it upside down and now everything that was either in a drawer or in a cupboard was now sprawled along the floors, but it didn't matter, because today was my last day. My plan was set.

My first stop was Jackson Valley Cemetery. I pulled the car into one of the many empty slots in the cemetery car park; no one ever seemed to visit this place when it rained. Opening up the black umbrella and stepping out into the heavy rain, I closed the door and walked across the rows and rows of headstones counting them as I went along. Number 66, here we are.

"Hi mom. Sorry it's been a while...I haven't been in a good space lately." I felt stupid talking to a sculpted piece of stone. "Um, so I'm in some deep trouble and I know this time I won't be able to pull through. I've tried to keep things together since you left, but I'm failing. It's not your fault mom, you did your best with me. I'm taking the reigns for once and controlling the path ahead of me. I guess what I'm saying is that I'll be seeing you soon, wherever you are."

The rain seemed to intensify now and dusk appeared to be looming. A haze of light fog had descended around the field of headstones.

 _"It's not your fault son."_ My mom's voice sounded in my head. _"And it's okay, everything will be okay."_

The bleak scene around me spun violently and my knees began to buckle as I lost my grip on the umbrella. Struggling to handle the overwhelming feelings of blame and loss, I suddenly felt sick – I had the urge to vomit, but my body didn't have the strength. I stood there, in front of Mom's headstone until I could barely see through the hazy dusk light that filtered through the constant rain. Then, as though someone had startled me out of a nightmare, I felt a minuscule tug on one of my coat pockets. Immediately spinning around, I saw to my horror and bewilderment, a human shaped shadow, barely visible beyond the vertical sheet of rain some ten feet away from me.

"Jill! ...is...is that...you?" I asked shakily, knowing full well that this couldn't possibly be her.

The shape remained absolutely still for a second; two bright blue speckles suddenly appeared through the shadow where the head would be, then the apparition appeared to turn rapidly before disappearing into the thick blanket of rain. A vacuum of rain appeared to have gravitated towards the direction of where the mysterious figure had stood as though there was a small gust of wind in the phantom's wake.

"Jill?" I screamed out between my sobs, but the figure never came back. What did I even see? My rational kicked in: _just a shadow, a trick of light like so many other weather phenomenon like rainbows and halos._

My mind was set and I headed back to the car to complete my life.

* * *

There was a reprieve in the rain as the sun kissed the horizon a little later on. The Toyota carried me to where I was going to finish my decayed journey of life - the forest bridge. For once I didn't care about the little petrol left in the tank, or the strange slipping that had suddenly developed in the clutch. Slipping clutch? Talk about déjà vu. Slowing down as I approached the bridge, I steered the car next to the tree that took Jill's life. It's funny; there's so many trees here, yet one alone caused so much significance in my life. With the engine still running, I glanced out the fogged up windows to ensure I was the only soul around before stepping out into the pile of rotting leaves that had built up along the river bank. Confident my plan was going to work - this was not going to be a failed suicide. I'd researched this method online, as the police would be finding out about now as they searched my laptop's browser history. That was the good thing about this old Toyota - it didn't give a shit how much carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide it spat out and I was sure it was going to choke me quickly, and gently. The trunk was hard to open, as it always was when the weather was getting cold, and I removed the hose and tape. I wasted no time in shoving the hose into the exhaust (which fit perfectly, as though they were meant to be joined together) and swinging it around inside the passenger window before taping the crap out of the gap in the window - the tighter the seal, the more efficient at killing.

"You gotta say goodbye to Jill," I muttered to myself as I walked around to the driver's door before changing course and heading down to the river's edge. "Thanks for teaching me how to ice skate. It was really fun." I felt a sudden urge to glance around knowing that I was alone but I couldn't overcome the eating paranoia that swelled in me. Or was I alone? A shadowy figure moved up near the car. Instinctively I rubbed my eyes but the shadow was still there and was now beside the cursed tree.

"Hello?" But of course there was no reply.

 _"It's just the lights from the car acting with the tree branches, creating moving shadows,"_ I mumbled reassuringly to myself, annoyed at my lack of ability to see in the low light of dusk. But it wasn't just a shadow, it had the same glowing eyes as the figure that I saw in the cemetery and as I got closer to the tree, the shadow became thicker, denser somehow before it shimmered away from the tree and into the shade of the hills beyond.

"Hello? Are you following me?" I stammered out, doubtful that I was able to be heard from how feeble my voice sounded.

No reply.

I cast my eyes to where the shadow had been, to what it had been blocking: the carving on the tree which appeared to almost glow in the lowering light, but that wasn't what made me gasp out loudly in horror and excitement. Above the carving was a photo that had been tacked to the bark - I recognized the photo immediately: it was of Jill and I on one of our dates.

 _What the fuck? Who put this photo here? Was it Jill? - was she...alive?_


	28. Chapter 28 - DEATH IN THE MIDST

**CHAPTER 28 – DEATH IN THE MIDST**

* * *

The tree sap didn't release the photo from the bark easily, but it wasn't until the photo was completely removed that I saw the thin claw-like mark behind the photo that had opened up the tree's wound. It could only have been a bear.

"Jill!" I questioned out loud, full of hope that the shadow that had long since disappeared would return and that it would somehow be Jill. " _Jill was that you?_ "

I gazed down at the photograph in my shaking hand, and it showed Jill and I standing on the sidewalk outside a derelict building, giving a beggar some canned food - Amy was her name. We took a selfie with her and I remembered her name because she told us that this was her first-ever selfie; that and I had a cat once called Amy.

"Amy?" I shouted half-halfheartedly out, knowing that it was a long shot; no reply came but I didn't expect one.

Who the fuck left this photo here? What the hell were they trying to tell me? My brain ached and felt scrambled with confusion. I needed rest, then maybe things might make more sense. Pulling the hose off the exhaust and stuffing it into the trunk, I didn't bother taking the duct tape off the window, and I didn't bother looking at the one car that happened to cross my path as I took off towards home resulting in a near miss. They sat on their horn as they swerved slightly to pass me but I didn't care, it felt as though I was wrapped in a thick foam blanket; everything around me felt muted, numbed.

Sleep, I needed sleep.

* * *

Waking up late afternoon the next day, I had figured it all out and was full of blind hope: _Jill was alive and I had to find her._ The obvious place to start was trying to find Amy and I knew this was not going to be easy, but I'd do anything for Jill. _Anything._ But Atlanta City wasn't exactly a small place and its homeless community was sizable. But my plan was to start outside that brick corner building in the photo and start asking around. If I got mugged or stabbed, it would be worth it.

So after a scarce meal which barely subdued my increasing hunger, I took off in my late mother's Toyota and headed to Atlanta city. There was a sense of thrill and anxiety in the wind that blew between my fingers outside the car's window and it felt good. I was on a mission, the most important mission of my life. Hell, I might not even come back to Jackson Valley if the homeless welcomed me in to their domain. We'll soon see, I guess.

The sun had dipped down a shade beyond the horizon as I drove into the city parameter and the view of the lit-up high-rise buildings against the smooth violet-red gradient of the dusk sky looked nothing short of breathtaking. It was as if the universe was guiding me here, leading me by its natural beauty. The guitar riffs that blew out from the car's pathetic speakers never sounded so artistic, so emotionally reviving. This felt right. As I drove into the city, I checked the GPS on my phone for the next instructions. I couldn't remember the name of the building in the photo but I did remember that it was in the downtown area across the street from a McDonald's. Luckily for me there was just the McDonald's outlet in the area.

 _"Fifty yards until you've reached your destination,"_ the GPS chirped out but what I heard was _"fifty yards until you've reached your destiny."_

The derelict orange building stood out and not because it was rundown, but because it was the only orange brick building in the area. It was surrounded by lifeless concrete buildings void of any curves or architectural flare. Even the cars parked in the area were gray, fading against the gray walls beyond. The entire area felt depressing and desperate for a revolution that would never come. I turned down Alabama street and drove slowly alongside the abandoned brick building looking for any signs of Amy. There were plenty of people around but it was getting hard to spot the homeless among the poor and to think Amy would be in the same spot as the photo was highly unlikely. I continued to drive past and parked behind the building next to the rusted, rubbish-lined fences that separated the car park from the old railway. Taking a deep breath, I got out of the car and headed through the car park and to the sidewalk to where the photo had been taken. A homeless person sat against the brick wall, hunched over and covered with a blanket. I knew this couldn't possibly be Amy, the world wasn't that nice to me.

"Excuse me," I began strongly, kneeling down next to the person. "I'm looking for..."

The blanket lifted slowly until a gap appeared where the person's deeply cracked and dirty face emerged.

"Leave me alone," the man's voice whispered before he closed the gap in the blanket again.

"Oh, sorry." I persisted. "It's just that I'm looking for Amy, have you..."

The gap in the blanket opened up again.

"Get the FUCK away from ME!" The man's scream caught me completely off guard and I fell backwards onto the sidewalk. Picking myself up and shrugging the rejection aside, I glanced around the brick wall, hoping to see a clue in the graffiti that littered the boarded up windows. After walking along the wall and reaching the corner, I plucked up the courage to ask the next person.

"Excuse me," I started. "I'm looking for..."

"Dat kin' of manners will get ya mugged 'round 'ere boy," the old man dressed in a tattered 70's suit said without glancing up at me.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm looking for Amy?"

"We're all lookin' for someone aren' we? Look son, let me tell ya...ya gonna need more than jus' 'er name to find 'er in this shit hole," the man croaked. "Now get the fuck outta 'ere before you get yourself..." The man trailed off walking off down the street and it bugged me that he never finished his sentence but it bugged me more that he might be right. After all, how was I going to find Amy?

My stomach growled again and I glanced back down the street at the McDonald's; the front of the shop never looked so good. I had some coinage in my pocket, possibly enough for at least a cheeseburger, so I headed towards the entrance where a small group of young people stood conversing loudly. The entrance door opened and a man walked out holding a burger that was soon snatched off him by one of the people in the group.

"Hey!" the old victim of the theft started.

"Fuck off, unless you wanna get yourself killed," the thief snarled and his mates laughed mockingly at the old man.

The victim's head slumped and he shuffled off, dragging his worn-out heals behind him. Okay, I'll have to eat my meal inside, that is if I don't get mugged on the way in. Holding my head up, I walked steadily past the group of bullies and through the entrance to McDonald's and was surprised to see another set of doors. As I pulled opened these doors, a person dressed in a heavy black coat and wide brimmed hat pushed forcibly on the other side, knocking me to the ground.

"Sorry son," the smooth, velvety voice said. "Didn't see you there." The person sounded faintly familiar and it wasn't until I gazed upon th **e pasty sullen face** that I realized that this was the priest that had came into my mom's hospital room unannounced.

"What? What are you..." I began confusedly but as the priest grabbed my hand and pulled me up to my feet he mouthed, " _Amy_ _..."_

 _"_ Huh?" I replied utterly bewildered. The priest then broke into a run, bursting through the outer set of doors and onto the street. Ten feet behind the priest, I chased the priest across the road, along the brick wall and around to the rear of the derelict building where the priest glanced back at me briefly before slipping through a gap in the rear double doors. I approached the door cautiously (for all I know this was some sort of sick ambush), walked up the small concrete steps and peered through the gap into the darkness of the building. Failing to see anything except the pile of cardboard rubbish piling up at the foot of the door, I turned on the flashlight function on my phone and took a single step past the doors and into the chaotic state of the hallway. The light on the phone was near useless and only illuminated a few feet ahead.

"Hello?" I yelled out nervously. "Where are you? Why won't you talk to me? What are you scared of?" But only the odd creaking moaned in the building walls. Stumbling carefully down the hallway and ignoring the feeling of being swallowed I made my way to the end of the hallway where it opened up into a large room. Random beads of light from the holes in the plywood that covered the windows danced around the room whenever a car drove past. The room I realized was the main foyer of what was probably once a bank or post office, and that to my left was a wide set of spiral stairs that led up to the floors above. A light suddenly shone from the top of the stairs before it disappeared and I had the harrowing feeling that I was being led upstairs. As I made my way up the rubbish-covered steps the beam of torchlight reappeared. Hurriedly, I reached the top floor and paused to glance around; the light was coming through a door frame from a room across the foyer and its beam sat on the floor as though its carrier had placed it onto the floor. My hands were shaking from hunger and anxiety causing the pathetic light on my phone to shimmer around casting contorting shadows that only deepened my fear that this venture was going to end maliciously. But I pushed on towards the torchlight, stopping momentarily at the door frame to shine my light around the room but its light never managed to penetrate halfway into the dark space although I grasped onto for a sense of security.

"Hello?" I called out instinctively. "Is anyone there?" I felt the presence of someone else in the room and dreaded that they were going to jump me the moment I stepped foot in the room.

The torch lay on the floor in the middle of the room and seemed to be pointed in a direction just to the left of the door frame. I slowly stepped into the room and turned to look at the beam that half struck the wall in front of me. A cry of maddened laughter erupted from my lips as I gazed upon the photo that had been lent against the skirting board. I wasn't frightened anymore, not after seeing this. Kneeling down for a better view, my heart starting stampeding as I studied the photo; the little Poloriod photo showed Jill and her parents standing with a group of strangers huddled around a pickup truck. The photo appeared to have been taken on a hill that overlooked a sprawling forest. Was this Syria? How did the photo get here? There was suddenly a quiet shuffle from behind me and as I turned hurriedly turned, the torch suddenly started spinning on the spot. What the hell was that? As the torch's spin slowed, it revealed what was beyond the shadows and the spectacle sucked the breath from my lungs and sent me crashing to my knees. The entire wall was covered in thousands of the same photo of Jill. But some of the photos had been turned around and after a moment of being stunned, it dawned on me: the turned-down photos spelled the words "FIND ME". Finding the little strength I had left in my legs, I pulled myself up, stumbled over to the wall of photos and pulled one of the down-turned photos off. Against the glossy white were the words written in tidy link writing:

 _ **Isikli Koyu, Hatay**_

"Isikli Koyu," I mouthed out silently, bewildered. Was it a name? Was it a place? Whatever it was, it cemented my belief that my mission was not a figment of my imagination. But why did the priest led me here? What was his connection with Jill? Why would he run from me, only to show me this? I grabbed another few photos off the wall and stuffed them into my pocket before picking up the torch and making my way out of the derelict building.

* * *

The drive back to Jackson Valley took forever. My only access to the internet was at home and I was eager like I'd never been before to google this lead. My stomach grumbled constantly but I fought its cries and instead headed straight to the laptop but as the google home page loaded, a knocking sounded from the front door.

"Jacob, are you home?" A woman's voice sounded beyond the walls of the house.

"Coming, just a sec," I replied. Who the hell is this now?

Opening the door revealed a man and woman who were dressed in expensive looking business suits. Behind them was a big man dressed in a blue security jacket.

"Jacob?" asked the woman.

"Yes," I replied shortly.

"Hi, I'm Amanda and these are my colleagues Stan and Willy there behind me. We are simply here to serve your eviction notice due to your non-payment on the mortgage. This means you have seven days to vacate the property. All the terms and conditions, your rights etc are enclosed in this envelope."

Amanda handed me the envelope, which I never intended to open anyway like the stack of the other mail from the bank sat unopened by the front door.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"You've been served, Jacob. Have a nice night," Stan said coldly before flashing a smile. I didn't bother watching the three visitors leave in their car but instead I headed back to the laptop throwing the eviction notice on the top of the pile of mail next to the door.

Google result for Isikli Koyu:

 **Işıklı, 28500 Işıklı Köyü/Tirebolu/Giresun, Turkey**

Turkey? How the fuck was I going to get all the way there?

A pinching sensation suddenly pinged my little finger where I wore the ring. Surveying my finger, I noticed that the sharp bottom of the ruby that was set into the ring had seemed to protrude marginally beyond the ring itself and now was pressing lightly into my finger. Then the idea struck me like a surge of electricity – How much was this ring worth?

* * *

 _I needed to think this through...was I really going to Turkey? Was I really going to sell my late father's ring? The lead was real, I was certain of it. Someone wanted me to find all those photos...I was being lead, but to where? I need to follow this through. There was nothing left here for me at Jackson Valley anyway. I'd be homeless and begging on the streets in a week, or worse, arrested for the disappearance of Jill and Sam._

After a shower, I changed into the cleanest hooded sweater I could find and drove off towards the pawn shop, high on a renewed direction of purpose.

Arriving at the Pawn shop ten minutes or so later I parked outside the shop's front door and glanced around cautiously. No police officers or people I knew were within sight, so I got out of the car and headed inside the Pawn shop.

Inside, the walls were jammed from floor to ceiling with used electronics and antiques and although the shop was quite large, the sheer amount of goods within gave the building a cramped vibe. I approached the front glass reception counter and the smell of sweaty feet shot up my nose.

A fragile old woman behind the counter greeted me while she was hunched over reading a newspaper. She removed her glasses and looked up at me with a reserved look, as though she thought I might have entered the shop to rob it. She appeared, initially, to be nervous.

"Hello. We're closing in about five minutes...and I do apologize about the smell in here... Our air conditioning units tend to give off this wet sock sort of smell around this time every year. Anyway, how may I help you?"

"Um, hi... I'm just wanting to see how much this is worth?" I replied pulling the ring off my pinkie finger and placing it on the glass counter.

"Well, hmm...yes this is interesting indeed..." the old woman said with a now intrigued tone as she picked up the ring, inspecting it closely. "Well, it's rose gold, maybe eighteen or twenty two carat, going off the color as there are no markings, and the ruby..." The old woman trailed off and bent down behind the desk to emerge a second later with a small black Loupe in her free hand. She then turned the ring, ruby side upward, and gasped as she peered through the Loupe.

"...what is it?" I asked intrigued.

"Pigeon blood..."

"...what?"

"It looks like this ruby is a pigeon blood type, going by its clarity and color."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes, but it's not overly big."

"Okay so...how much –"

 _"– is it worth_? Well let's see... I'll assume it's a half carat ruby, and the band is eighteen carat gold...I'd say retail value is around four thousand"

"... _four thousand!"_ I exclaimed excitedly.

"BUT, that is retail, before I factor in my commission of course...What I can offer you is two thousand, cash."

"...but you just said it's worth four...!"

"I have the cash here, take it or leave it."

I nodded regretfully accepting the trade and the moment the lady saw that I'd agreed to her deal, she took the ring and disappeared behind the curtain-covered doorway to emerge several minutes later holding a brown paper bag.

"Here's your money," the woman said quickly as she held out the small paper bag and placed it on the counter top.

I picked it up, opened the top and tipped the banded bundle of notes onto the counter top. Then I started counting.

"It's all there son," the old woman scoffed. She appeared to be anxious for me to leave.

"Yeah yeah," I replied slightly agitated as I finished counting the fifty dollar notes. "Alright, thanks."

After packing the notes back into the bag, I then turned around and walked out of the shop and back into the old Toyota. On the drive home a dreaded sense of guilt washed over my thoughts – I'd just pawned off my father's ring, the only link I had to him, at half its value to follow a lead from a bunch of photographs.

* * *

That night I looked at the next available flight to Adiyaman airport via Istanbul, Turkey: tomorrow morning.

After a sleepless night I packed my backpack with only the essentials: Phone charger, headphones and a bunch of clothes. The flight was leaving in a few hours time and it all felt so rushed, like I was being pushed through a foggy dream. The thought of possibly seeing Jill again consumed my every thought and was driving my curiosity to dig deeper. I had to follow this and there was no coming back. Death awaited me here, and if the lead ended up being nothing, then death also awaited me there. Before I jumped into the car and headed for the airport, I did one last sweep of my mother's room – just in case there was something there I had missed, however I found nothing else of interest. I did however pocket my late father's letter, for good luck.

Three quarters into the drive towards the airport, the old car started to hesitate and stutter. It seemed the more gas I gave it, the more it protested. The car, I thought, had finally run out of petrol or had broken down from it's numerous faults.

"Shit! Why the fuck does this shit always happen to me!" Cursing loudly I hit the dash violently with my fists as the car's engine died. Steering the coasting car to the side of the road and down a gentle sloping bank, I stopped the car and got out.

"Stupid, – fucking car!" I yelled, slamming the door closed as hard as I could before strutting away in a huff. The airport was a few miles away and there was not much time to cover the distance so I broke into a jog along the side of the road while holding my thumb out to the passing cars, just in case someone was game enough to pick me up. Half an hour later, not one passing car had acknowledged me, but it didn't matter as I had arrived at the airport in time. As I entered the airport's large glass doors and into the queue of waiting people, I realized I hadn't even broken a sweat. A couple of hours later having purchased my ticket (apparently buying the ticket in cash was very inconvenient for the teller) and after waiting anxiously around the airport boarding terminal, the announcement to board the plane finally sounded across the overhead speaker system. Standing up and stretching my back in a rearwards arch, I headed to the boarding platform and proceeded to walk onto the Turkish Airlines Boeing 777.

* * *

The airplane's interior felt cold, clinical and cramped. The middle row of seats sat four, whereas the outer rows sat th _ree._

 _Please be a window seat, please be a window seat,_ I wished silently to myself as I approached my seat number… Yes! Window seat! It was a small, yet rare win for me.

I quickly sat down, clicked the lap belt in, put my headphones over my ears, pulled up my hood until it covered most of my face and rest my head against the airline-supplied pillow that was propped up against the airplane's plastic wall, making sure I made it obvious to everyone that I didn't want to be disturbed for the long haul flight.

Drifting in and out of sleep, the long flight slowly drifted to a cramp-inducing end; my body wasn't used to staying in one position for so long, but the seat was so limited on space that I could barely change my seating posture.  
After a short wait, I walked off the plane and headed to the domestic terminal to catch my connecting flight through the enormous mall-like building that was brightly lit forcing me to stare downwards at the grey tiled floor. I walked hazily from lack of sleep and before I realized it, I had arrived at my next boarding gate and was allowed to board the plane immediately.

Inside the smaller Boeing 737, it felt much smaller compared to the previous plane and had only two rows of seats that hugged the plane interior on both sides.

Soon after taking my seat, the half-empty plane took off into the air and I gazed out the window as the landscape grew more and more distant the further into the sky we flew.

The short two hour flight ended at the small, barren Adiyaman airport.

I noticed as the plane descended to land that this airport felt depressed and deserted, void of any real activity. There were no other planes in sight and the entire airport consisted of a small handful of uninspired hangers and a lengthy yet somewhat curvy main building that also seemed to lack any spark to its design.

The surrounding landscape was eerily flat and dry with large patches of green grass among the hard looking dirt that stretched off into the distant haze.

Exhausted and severely jet lagged, I stepped off the plane into the hot dry air, onto the airport apron, then traversed across the smooth concrete and through the self opening glass doors of the main airport building.

Inside it was much darker than I had been expecting with a lot of the glaring light coming from the numerous computer screens that were heavily littered throughout the open space rather than from the hot afternoon sun from outside.

My body urged me to sleep, but I forced myself to keep moving, searching for a mode of transport that will enable me to continue my harrowing search for Jill but the only transport stands I could find were car rentals but as I didn't have a licence to drive in this country, it wasn't an option, although I did attempt to hire a car at all of the stands before being harshly denied and escorted off the airport property by one of the airport's security guards. I didn't resist the guard at all for this was a new country to me and it offered me a clean slate, a new start; however long I was able to keep the slate clean, I couldn't predict.

I now stood in the shimmering, although not particularly hot sun on the side of the road with only my backpack over my shoulders and my hooded sweater over my head as a make-shift hat.

This country seemed so foreign to me; the landscape, the sun's lack of intensity, the hazy sky that appeared to stretch far into the distance, the different language, the unknown cars, even the dirt under my feet appeared different, it felt harder.

Peering at my phone's clock which read "12:30" I decided which way of the road to start walking down and headed west, towards the town of Adiyaman, which according to the road sign, was thirteen miles away.

After three hours of tiredly stumbling towards the town, only a small handful of cars had driven past and neither of them had responded to my thumb that I had stuck out in an attempt to hitch a ride; until a white, beaten truck slowed down and came to a stop thirty feet ahead of me. The truck was old, at a guess, around forty years, and had a cage at the back that was made from frail looking pieces of wood that appeared as though they had been slapped together hastily. As I approached the truck, I could see between the slats of wood a few small baby cattle inside balancing on their skinny legs moving skittishly around their small real estate.

Forcing a smile on my tired face, I walked around to the front of the cab and waved at the passengers inside.

The old, weathered man who sat behind the wheel, rolled down his dust-covered window and smiled through his toothless mouth. An old woman with long dirty white hair and cracked tanned skin, sat on the other side of the cab, and a patchy grey and white dog lumbered between its human owners staring at me with hollow black eyes.

"Nerede?" the old man asked in a kind tone "Adiyaman?"

"Isikli Koyu?" I replied as best as I could.

"Sorry?" the man said in barely audible English, clearly having trouble hearing the name through my terrible pronunciation.

"Sorry, um, Isikli Koyu?" I repeated a little more emphasized, but the man shook his head in a misunderstanding.

Pulling out the photo from my pocket, I paced right up to the cab and showed the man the writing on the rear of the glossy paper.

"Tamam, okay," he said nodding approvingly.

The old man then leaned his head out of the cab window and pointed to the rear of the truck "Arka, arka! There, sit."

"…The back?" I replied, also pointing towards the deck. The old man nodded again.

I walked around to the rear of the truck and opened the rear hatch which creaked loudly as the rusty hinges protested the movement. The three cattle inside cowered into the farthest corners as I jumped into the rear platform of the truck shutting the hatch behind me. The old truck sputtered to life and rolled back onto the road and as the truck gathered momentum, the wind intensified forcing me to seek shelter at the front of the truck. Nearest to the front of the cab, where the calves had since lowered themselves to their knees for stability, was a bale of hay. Hoping that this bundle of hay would offer some comfort, I made my way towards the front of the tray holding onto the half rotten railing as I took staggered, unbalanced steps. The calves abruptly stood up in fear and fumbled their way around me and to the rear of the truck falling to their knees and sliding slightly into the rear hatch door. I slumped down onto the hay, took my bag off my shoulders and pulled the hood of my sweater over my face. The wind that had tortured me at the rear of truck was now out of reach as I lay behind the protective cab.

The truck shifted into its highest gear and the diff started to whine underneath me just as I closed my heavy eyes and fell into a deepened, well overdue sleep.


	29. Ch 29 - DESCENDING THE PATH OF ANGELS

**CHAPTER 29 – DESCENDING THE PATH OF ANGELS**

* * *

A jabbing sensation on my shoulder stirred me out from my slumber.

"Uyanmak! Hey, hey, uyanmak!" The kind old man who had given me a ride had reached his arm through the gaps between the wooded rails and was poking me.

"Okay, okay," I responded wearily blinking my dry eyes and gazing upwards at the blood-red dusk sky. It felt like it was early morning, but as I sat up on the hay bale I pulled my phone out to look at the time; the time disagreed with my body clock and told me it was in fact early evening. I'd been on the back of this truck for over six hours but it felt like _so_ much longer – damn jet lag.

The stars that had already started to shine through a patchy red sky looked abnormally placed and strangely brighter than they did back at home.

The old man had walked around to the rear of his truck that was parked to the side of the road, opened the rickety gate and urged me to get off his truck, which, I obliged, and after strapping my backpack over my shoulder I jumped off the vehicle, staggered slightly unbalanced on my feet for a brief moment before gazing past the truck and down the road ahead.

The smooth dirt road split into two distinctive paths, fifty feet ahead, but there were no road signs around – I had no idea at all where I was and the sunken sensation of the thought that I had just trusted a complete stranger to carry me for the last six hours to my destination threw me into a panic.

The weathered old man headed hastily back to the cab of his truck as though he was in a hurry to leave.

"Hey!" I yelled out worryingly. "Hey! Where am I?"

Just before the man stepped back into his truck, he prodded himself enthusiastically in the chest with his index finger then pointed his finger in the left direction, and then he pointed at me before swinging his arm back to the path on the right. He urgently nodded and smiled, and he then jumped back into the truck and crunched the vehicle into gear driving off down the road on the left. Seeing as I had foolishly entrusted this stranger for the last six hours, I followed his suggestion and headed down the road on the right.

* * *

The first stretch of this foreign road was mainly straight and before I'd reached the first noticeable bend an hour later, the sky had fallen dark. The path that lay ahead of me was barely illuminated by the patchy stars above; my eyes had since adjusted to the dark of the early night but I could only see about a hundred yards around me; it was enough to avoid tripping over the rocks and raised humps of the beaten road. I glanced back to see how far I'd come; the road had seemed to have climbed slightly for the entire walk so far and this explained why my legs progressively protested at this prolonged inclination, but I couldn't be sure, it was too dark to see far enough back. My mind had started playing the album "The Division Bell" by Pink Floyd while the surrounding flat plains appeared as though they were morphing into two dimensional shapes, closing the distance between me and the stars above. I felt as though I could simply reach up and carefully pluck a star from off the black canvas the lay just above my head.

Nearly out of breath, I walked around the long sweeping bend, and my suspicions that I'd just climbed a long sloping hill were confirmed. Bending down and resting on my knees to catch my breath, I gazed out in hope at the hilly landscape below. Numerously scattered soft yellow lights that diffused through thin layers of fog glimmered in the distance in the valley below and beyond them sat towering masses of black. The dark peaks of what appeared to be hills beyond, almost entirely blended in with the patchy night sky; it was almost impossible to see where the hills ended and the sky started.

The descent towards the village of lights was windy and a lot rougher than the road behind me. The jagged-edged rocks raised up out of the road threateningly – one slip and they'd easily gash into a limb or crack my head open. The temperature around me dropped slightly and the air that entered my lungs felt heavy and damp. Gazing back up at the now star-less night sky, a drop of rain landed on my forehead; it felt refreshing, yet at the same time gave me a sense of urgency to push forward before the rain had a chance to settle in, but the lights ahead were still a couple of miles ahead, maybe more. I broke into a careful run just as the heavens opened up turning the dirt road almost instantly into a slippery clay-like mess.

Drenched by the rain, I finally reached the edge of the village where the clay under my feet transitioned to an irregularly-shaped cobbled path. The pathway stretched between widely spaced dwellings that emitted light through their windows as though they were eyes peering down at me as I walked onto the cobble and into the first part of the small village. I pushed forward in a light, cautious jog, and spotted a light ahead which was brighter than the rest around me. As I got closer to the source of the light, it became clear that the glow was emitted from a large single filament bulb that was attached to the side of a large brick and white plastered building; its illumination covered the sizable deck at the front that served as a sheltered entrance. Flanked on either side of the entrance way was a pair of wooden tables and chairs that stood empty yet worn.

I hurriedly stepped out of the rain and under the shelter of the awning where I stood puffing away struggling to fill my lungs with air. Facing the heavy looking wooden entrance door, I saw the words _"Hoşgeldiniz"_ etched in black stain on the door, but I didn't have a clue what it meant. Muffled laughter, murmuring and heavy footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. Timidly, I knocked and waited, but no one answered; I knocked again, but still no one answered. Taking a deep breath, then exhaling, I turned the wrought iron door knob and pushed the door open slowly, trying to be as subtle as possible, but just as the noise from within amplified as the door opened wider, the murmuring and muttering suddenly dropped off into a hushed silence.

There I stood, in front of the entrance door that was now open ninety degrees wide, surveying the room as quickly as I could. Inside, the room was a moderately sized open space that was dimly lit by bulbs that hung off wires fixed from the pitched open ceiling. Off to the left and halfway down the room was a large wooden bar that stretched around a towering rack of brown tinted bottles of similar shapes. Tall tables wrapped around the numerous thick pillars that held up the roof and were catering to the many elbows of the rough patrons that leaned against their surface – many of whom held a glass drinking vessel in one hand. Between the pillars, low tables and chairs filled the gaps and almost all the chairs were occupied. Most of the people in the room had stopped drinking and now looked upon me with hardened looks and narrow, seedy eyes. Trying to shun off the deathly stares, I closed the door behind me and stepped casually to the bar.

* * *

"Do you speak English?" I nervously asked the large man that stood behind the bar. _"English?"_

"Yes, small," he replied in a deep and thick Turkish accent. "Little...er... small."

The bearded barman looked at me with a certain worry in his brown eyes and I got the impression that he felt sorry for me, a young american traveling on his own in desolate southern Turkey, soaked by the rain and beaten down by a presumptuously depressive life.

"You, American?" he asked narrowing his eyes ever so slightly.

"Yes," I replied hoarsely.

"Why young boy from America here? You running away, trouble follow? _"_ he asked as he momentarily glanced behind me at his patrons, his eyes flashing with worry.

The crowd in the room started to converse once more putting me more at ease knowing that I was no longer their center of attention.

"I'm looking for someone. A girl," I replied as I reached into the side pocket of my backpack and pulled out the photograph of Jill. "Have you seen her? This one here?" I turned the photo around to show the barman.

"No sorry," he said shaking his head in short quick shakes. He'd dismissed the photo instantly, before I'd even pointed out Jill. A look of regret flashed in his eyes as though the photo had re-surged a painful memory back to the surface.

" _Please_ _I beg of you! Please have another look! I can't imagine many visitors come here! Please sir!_ " I pleaded pushing the photo back into the barman's face.

"No!" he refused, pushing the photo away with his large arm. "You mush leave, go." He turned his face away from me and worryingly peered over my shoulder again. I stuffed the photo back in my pocket and turned around fearfully to see a few of the menacing looking male patrons standing up from their table and casting icy looks at me. I now worried that they were going to head towards me to remove me from the bar but instead and to my surprise, they walked towards the rear of the building and out of sight. I turned my scorning look back to the barman.

" _You know something!_ I can see it in your face!" I erupted out loudly and the room once again fell silent, but this time I didn't care. The lead Jill had left me just strengthened and I was certain that the man behind the bar knew something!

"You must leave, quickly!" the barman said with a raised urgent voice.

"No!" I strongly rebelled. The large barman walked quickly to the end of the bar, slide sideways through a gap in the bench, and stormed over to where I stood. He then grabbed hold of my backpack and forcibly pulled me towards the front door. Fighting back was near useless for I had such little strength after my wearily long journey and the barman was huge in comparison to me – any attempt to resist him would be feeble. Another patron that had sat by the door had gotten up and now held the door open. The barman then shoved me heavily out the entrance way where I then stumbled over the deck stairs landing sideways onto the muddy ground.

"LEAVE HERE!" I heard the barman yell out before the door to the bar was slammed shut. I slowly heaved my body off the mud, sat up and stared angrily at the building I'd just been kicked out of. He knows something. I need to find out more. Why had he been so dismissive?

Seconds into planning my re-entry into the village bar, three men emerged from the side of the building walking slowly towards me with menacing, revengeful looks on their faces – their intentions were obviously hostile. I weakly stood up, raised my fists and faced the approaching men, preparing myself for a fight that I had no chance of winning. The first male that had reached me grinned, then threw the first punch towards my face. It was a sloppy punch and I managed to dodge it and return with a quick jab that hit him squarely on his nose. He stumbled backwards and fell to the ground as blood rushed down his chin; he cupped his face swearing and cursing in Turkish. A bold shape under his right ear contrasted against his skin and as he cocked his head irately away from the light of the building's light – the shape of a tattoo came into focus for a fleeting moment – it was a tattoo of a winged human, an angel.

The next attacker approached me from my left side and I perceived that the third attacker was now out of sight, somewhere behind me, but before I had the chance to turn around to locate him, the second attacker that had quickly closed the gap on me from my left, taunted me by pointing out his identical angel tattoo and cackling loudly, holding his long tongue out as though he was a mental patient. These men must be part of a gang. A powerful kick suddenly collided with the back of my knees and I fell backwards, folding over myself onto the muddy ground. Unable to get up before the assailants closed in on me, I curled up into the fetal position and endured the onslaught of kicks and punches that followed. One of the attackers kept trying to pull my backpack off me but I curled in further into a ball and held on my bag tightly.

The viscous attack lasted for a slow agonizingly painful minute –

Then out of nowhere, a loud crack echoed abruptly though the air from somewhere close by.

My attackers suddenly stopped their assault and ran off rapidly, apparently scared off by the gunshot. A throbbing pain shivered through my shoulder as I tried to stand up, and although I tried to move my hand up to my chest, to relieve the agony, it refused and responded with a sharpening pain through my upper arm. I reached my other hand over my shoulder and felt an unusual bump – I'd never had a dislocated shoulder before, but I was sure I had one now. I scrambled to my feet as best as I could in the bruised and weakened state that I'd been pummeled into and slumped against one of the nearby rock walls for cover clutching my dislocated shoulder with my free hand. What followed the single gun shot was the tranquil sound of light rain drops tapping on the nearby tile roofs – _and that's when I saw Jill._

She stood on the road fifty feet away, a long black coat hung off her shoulders; her distinctive ash blonde hair glittered against the shadows of the night that surrounded her. The light drifting rain appeared to wrap around her, almost as though the drops danced about her coat, never seeming to land on her body. Her back faced me and she didn't turn around; it was as though she didn't know I was there!

"Jill!" I yelled out, but only a weak, raspy sound came from my sore throat. Jill didn't turn around, she didn't hear me.

"Jill!" I shouted out again, but my throat was too dry and raw for my cries to be heard.

Jill began to walk away down the cobbled road and was now almost out of sight. A surge of hope flooded my veins and with this wave of liberation I propped myself up and staggered towards her but she kept on walking away. I picked up my pace as much as I could muster, but so did Jill – the distance between us remained constant. After walking for a few minutes trailing Jill, the road that ran through the village, that was once surrounded by shacks and trees, now only had thick forest on the left; the right was completely exposed to a chilling wind; the crashing sound of waves against a rocky cliff face could be heard from down below and the ocean beyond reflected the rippling patches of stars above. This road was rocky, windy, and in some places steep yet Jill never seemed to stumble or lose pace, it was as though she was impervious to the ground's unforgiving texture. Further up the hills in some places, the only way I could transverse some of the steeper sections was to pull myself up using the branches from the bordering trees yet Jill appeared to effortlessly glide up these with no trouble at all. My legs felt as though they were going to finally give way from underneath me as I approached the crest of yet another incline – I sighed at the top of the hill and tried to catch my breath.

My arm still throbbed from the attack but the bump had disappeared; my back dully ached from bruising and I felt steady waves of nausea that would cause my balance to sway. I pulled my phone out to check the time but after pressing the "on" button, the phone's screen flickered briefly before going blank. The screen was cracked and the phone was soaking wet; it was malfunctioning, broken by the vicious attack on me from those three cowards. Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I tried to gauge how long I'd been walking for, but it was impossible. I felt as though I was losing my sense of awareness. I was lost, wet and hungry and I was following this person, this phantom deeper into the forest. Doubt was starting to surface whether this was truly Jill and whether or not I'd made the right decision to come to this hostile place. Jill slowed down momentarily and it was as though she had heard my doubting thoughts and yearning to see her again; she turned her face ever so slightly towards me – just enough for me to catch a glimpse of her cheek-line.

 _"Jake...almost..."_ she whispered as though she was speaking to me from within the walls of my head. Her encouragement urged me back into a walk in pursuit of her but I felt as though I was losing my hold on my reality. Was I dying? Was this my ending? My only option was to keep following Jill.

* * *

A moment that felt like an eternity later, the road headed back inland and the pathway was now completely surrounded by the thick forest. I could barely see through the dense shadows of the trees that fell over the path – Jill's sparkling blonde hair was my only guiding light. Jill, who was still fifty feet ahead of me, turned right and disappeared into the woods. I broke into a clumsy run, afraid I'd lose sight of her.

"Jill! Wait!" I screamed out racing to the point where she'd disappeared.

Frantically straining my eyes around to my right, then back down at the continuing road, then back to my right again, the dirt path appeared to tee-off into the a thinned out part of the forest... It was another road, narrower then the one I stood on and it had been overgrown by shrubs appearing as though it hadn't been used for decades. The small fading glow of Jill's hair shone through the gaps in the low slung branches before disappearing again.

"Jill, wait for me!" I yelled through my sore dry throat as I weaved my way between the clusters of shrubs.

* * *

Some time later, maybe an hour or so, I felt my body shutting down from absolute exhaustion, but I continued slowly through the maze of criss-crossing bushes. There was no place to rest, and pairs of small beady glowing dots appeared to float in the darkness between the tree trunks around me – I was becoming increasing weary and paranoid as these eyes, that watched me from the shadows, didn't make a single sound – they were figments of my imagination and I was clearly losing my mind. I'm going to die here, tonight – I can feel the encroaching death wrapping my body in it's cold, gripping embrace. I gazed down to the ground, preparing to fall to my knees and just as my legs gave me their final steps, the path unexpectedly opened widely around me; the ground underneath my feet softened as it turned from hardened roots to cold wet grass.

With the last of my waning energy, I glanced around the large clearing in the forest and a gigantic shadow ahead of me protruded upwards towards the patchy starry sky. The grey hazy clouds above parted just enough for the moonlight that barely peaked above the horizon to penetrate through and onto the clearing – and that's when the elevated structure came into view. Through a pair of large rusty spiked entrance gates that had sunken into the ground, a large widespread stone manor stood staunchly towards the back of the clearing a hundred yards away. At the middle of the manor, a tall stone tower stood steadfast; its walls widening towards three sharp turret roofs at the top; the tower cast a lengthy shadow across the flat overgrown lawn. The roof line to either side of the tower was humped with more but smaller turrets and countless chimneys. On the farther right, a large section of the roof was flat and was encased with scores of stone balustrades – it appeared to be a viewing porch. The walls of the building, between the generous amount of methodically placed windows, were partially covered with a climbing ivy that appeared to be dead; yet it's remains still clung tightly to the stone. A tiny yellow flicker of what looked like candlelight seemed to emit through the damp night air from the upper most window of the tower.

 _Jill was inside and waiting for me..._

While I stammered slowly forward, barely one step at a time, the view of the manor pulsated from moonlit to shadow as the clouds fought to block the moon's light. And as I finally reached the front porch to the vast building, I tripped over the single step that I'd failed to see and landed heavily against the heavy planked wooden door which hung on over-sized, black iron hinges under the stone archway of the manor entrance. The door slowly strained open as though it hadn't moved for years and its groans and creaks echoed lowly off the walls of the room beyond.

"Hello?" I called out hoarsely. "Is anybody here? Jill are you there?"

Stepping through the doorway and into the stale-smelling room, I felt a sudden chill sweep past the back of my neck and I got the sinking feeling that someone, or _something_ was hiding in the room – and that it was watching me from the lurking shadows.


	30. Chapter 30 - ECCENTRIC IN THE SHADOW

**CHAPTER 30 – ECCENTRIC IN THE SHADOW**

* * *

The moonlit bleed through from the colorful stained glass depiction of a weeping angel that covered the triple-height wall opposite the entrance door; the rays of moonlight shone directly on me through the dusty air as though the glass-angel herself was filling me with her soft heavenly light; from the outside it must've looked like I was praying to her while I rested, hunched over on my knees.

Below the Gothic style window was a dark wooden staircase that was wrapped in an intricate balustrade; the first section of steps faced upwards and towards the stained glass window before it continued perpendicularly leftwards and upwards ending on the concealed passageway above. The rest of the room was cast in still shadows.

"… _Jake…"_ The angel in the window appeared to softly whisper to me. Although deluded, I knew that the voice really came from my own mind; however it still brought on a sense of calmness. _"…Jake… …Hold on… Just a little more…. "_

Slumped over my knees, my head pounded and was becoming increasingly heavy; my eye sight was failing and a cold numbness from within my chest felt as though my organs had started to shut down.

I was inhaling, what felt like the last of my breaths and just before my neck muscles refused to hold up my head any longer, I saw, through the black spots in my fading vision, a shadow that glided down the upper part of the staircase; and as the figure transcended in front of the stained glass, I saw, clear as day, that this was Jill – her ash blonde hair flowed alongside her face, concealing her beauty, but I knew this was her and I believed without a wavering doubt that she was coming to save me, to embrace me in her loving arms. But the sensation of heavenly bliss was short lived, for my body refused to live any longer. The icy grip on my organs tightened; black splotches in my eye sight thickened to the point where only darkness remained – then, before I collapsed to the floor, I slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

I felt an irritatingly burning sensation on one of my wrists as I came to.

Opening my eyes and peering through the dimly-lit room, thick wooden carved-out posts that pointed upwards came into my semi-focused view and I figured I was laying on a mattress of a four-poster.

Blinking my eyes in an attempt to get my vision to return properly, a tall round plaster turret ceiling greeted me from way above; a mural was painted on the plaster and it was a wrap-around scene of the sun setting over an ocean; the sun was painted in the middle, on a surface that had been shaped into a convex half-sphere where the inverted point of the turret would have otherwise been; the deep blue shades of the oceans banded around the middle of the ceiling and a thick outline border of treetops filled in the remaining of the bottom area of the turret ceiling before connecting with the stone walls of the room.

Pivoting my head to my left, to source of the pain at the end of my arm, I noticed with bewilderment that a brown leather strap had been fastened around my wrist; I thrust my head to the right, to my other hand to see that it too was strapped down.

Surveying the room and glancing beyond the bed that held me captive, I saw that a thick, red over-sized velvet curtain had been drawn across the only window in the room. Only a slither of white light had worked its way into the room through a tear in the curtain's fabric, but this ray of light, along with the soft, red ambient light that the curtain managed to restrain was enough to illuminate the space in a light-scarlet glow that was just enough to see around the shadow-less areas of the room.

"Who…er, who are you?" A shaky, unfamiliar female voice said from the farthest shadowy corner of the room.

"Why am I tied up?" I replied irked, trying not to sound concerned about how vulnerable my current position was.

"Um, who are you?" The soft Eastern European accented voice fired back weakly.

"I'm Jacob. Who are you?"

"Why did you intrude into my home?" asked the voice from the shadow ignoring yet another one of my questions.

"I – I didn't, I mean, I was led here, by, err, Jill," I stammered, feeling worried and somewhat foolish by the fact that I'd followed a shadow, a figment of my imagination, to this place. "…anyway, where am I? What day is it?"

"You know where you are, you found this place after all. What day is it? Not sure, I lost track a long time ago," the girl said sounding as if her voice had picked up a little confidence.

"Okay... Where is my stuff?" I questioned feeling confused about everything around me.

"In the corner... To your left..." She surprisingly answered another one of my questions so I thought I'd attempt a couple more.

"Who are you? Why won't you show yourself?"

"I found you bruised, bleeding… I thought you were going to die. Who hurt you?" she asked almost worryingly, yet more questions of mine were dodged.

I strained at the horrid memory of the rushed attack outside the bar. "Three men, thugs... they had these tattoos..."

"Tattoos?" the girl cut me off suddenly with another interrogating question.

"Huh? Yes, I think they're of angels."

"So, you're not with them?"

"What? ...With who?"

"The men with the tattoos..."

"NO! They had attacked _me!_ _Please..._ Will you tell me who you are?

"The photo, in your backpack..." The hidden girl's pasty hand flicked out of the shadow for a split second releasing a flat square piece of paper that twirled ten feet in the air before tumbling gently downwards and landing down on my stomach. I urged forward as much as the straps would allow and saw the photo of Jill which was now covered in fold lines and crumbling edges from being handled so often.

"Oh... Um, this photo, it's of Jill…" I started but quickly trailed off for a moment as I gazed at the photo of Jill standing beside her parents. "…she...she... is my girlfriend…I followed her here, or so I thought... Where is she? Are you Jill? Jill? What kind of sick game are you playing? No, I know who you are... you're Amy. Remember me? You had your first selfie with me out by the McDonald's. Come out of the shadow and show yourself, you don't have to be shy."

"I'm sorry, but you're mistaken Jacob. I'm not either Jill or Amy and I'm not playing games with you," the hidden voice said somewhat sympathetically. "You've been here before? You took the picture?"

"No... I've never been here before, someone else took that picture." My lips began quivering and my eyes moistened as my belief that Jill was in the same room as me severely wavered in a forlorn hope – in all my desperation for Jill to come back, I'd lost my mind – I'd seen what I had wanted to see; I had followed this photo as though it was a trail that led to her, but now I see that the lead was untrue; Jill wasn't waiting for me at the end of it all. I'd been falsely led to this poor girl's derelict house by my fallacious yearning.

"Oh, I see," the girl said softly. "My name, is Samara."

"Samara…" I repeated her name out loud and placed the photo down on my chest peering into the dark corner once more. "Why do you hide in the shadow? What are you afraid of?"

"It's been so long…" Samara said in a voice that seemed to be laced with loneliness. "…so long…"

"...err, so long since what?" I asked curiously, but also slightly worried. "I know you don't know me but…you, you can tell me Samara."

"I've – I've…, been here, in this place, in this forest – for so long," she replied sounding distant.

"Where is your family?"

"Gone – killed."

"Oh…," I paused for a sullen second. "I'm so sorry….. How did they…?."

"Evil men."

"The men with the tattoos? Are they…?"

"…Terrorists, thugs… Evil men… Yes."

"Did they kill your family?" I questioned rather insensitively.

Samara remained quiet and I didn't blame her.

"And you're afraid that they are coming back – to this place?"

"No more talk." Samara's voice quivered noticeably and a certain commanding tone returned; talking about her family was clearly a tough subject for her.

"Samara, I can help you… The thugs with the tattoos, they are in the village. We can…."

Samara interrupted harshly "We can what? Seek revenge? With what? You are no army. You would not stand a chance anymore than a baby dear would in a struggle against a lion!"

Feeling sheepish after my false attempt to console Samara, I pleaded with her again. "Will you _please_ untie me?"

A soft rustling sounded from the dark corner, then a pair of petite, overly arched feet slipped out from the shadow and into the red hue of the room; Samara's toe nails were painted a deep black but the rest of her feet appeared to be patched with dirt that partially concealed her otherwise white skin.

"I'm hungry Samara, please…" I pleaded staring momentarily at her feet, which reminded me of a homeless person's feet.

"Alright, I will untie you, but you must close your eyes… I don't want you to see me." Samara's feet retracted back into the shadow.

"Okay, I'll close my eyes," I replied, obliging to her request. I'd only just closed my eyes a second before suddenly feeling a small tugging on my left wrist, then on my right a second afterwards.

"You can open your eyes now," Samara said blankly.

Rubbing my itchy wrists in an attempt to sooth them, I blinked my eyes open, but Samara remained hidden.

"Your clothes are on the bed," she said softly from her dark corner. "Put them on please."

Running my recently freed hands under the bed sheet, I realized that I was naked! A pile of my clothes were draped over the side of the bed and they were no longer laden with mud.

"Did you undress me?"

"Yes, I had to. Your clothes - they were wet and making you cold."

"So you've seen me…err… naked?"

"Yes," she replied in an unexpectedly comfortable tone. "But I tried not to look at anything..."

"How did you manage to...?" My voice came out a higher pitch than what I was expecting.

"It was difficult of course, and you were so very cold," Samara injected with a small hint of amusement. "The bath warmed you up."

My head flushed embarrassingly with heat – Samara had seen me naked, yet I still didn't know what she looked like. With a bursting feeling of rebellion, I threw the sheets off me to one side and stood up from the bed – completely naked. Then I grabbed my clothes and slipped them on, they smelled musty, but were at least dry, and although it was obvious that they had been washed, the fabric now felt scratchier and a more restrictive than before.

"Okay Samara, now that you've seen _me_ naked, it's only fair that you show me yourself…"

"I suppose… but please, don't be alarmed…" Samara sighed. "I have…a few, um, _conditions_..."

"That's okay, I'm sure it's..." I began, but suddenly Samara's face emerged slowly from out of the shadow, and it appeared as though the shadow itself moved backwards. Samara's complexion was pale, malnourished of any vibrancy and contrasted strongly with her slightly wavy dark black lengthy hair that flowed messily into the shadow behind; her eyes a stunning black, seemed to be sunken with harbored sights of suffering and loss; thin yet bold and lengthy eyebrows shaped impeccably around the tops of her eyes; her high-boned roundly cheeks and her smooth slightly recessed chin were overly lean, almost skeletal; her refined smallish bulb of a nose and full, perfectly proportioned lips appeared slightly bluish in color as though they were colder than the rest of her face. She had the look of an exotic eastern European supermodel in her late teens, but she also seemed too gaunt, even for a supermodel. She was clearly emaciated, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Then the rest of her followed soon afterwards from out of the shadow and into the dull light of the room, and it was clear to me that she was wasting away; her slim five and half foot frame was wrapped in a thin, loosely fitted shabby black dress; its fabric that had once dragged against the ground, now just hung on by threads of frayed strips. Samara also wore a tattered and ripped red woven cardigan that appeared old and vintage-looking.

"Samara… you need food…" I said trying to restrain my full shock to her ill state.

"No Jacob, I can't…" Samara trailed off glancing sullenly at the floor.

"Why not?" I asked walking slowly across the large room towards her.

"I have no – appetite, I can't eat, I have severe Crohn's disease."

"Oh…I see…" I said lengthily slowing my stroll towards her. "Is it contagious?"

Samara smiled gently just as she raised her sorrowful eyes back to mine. "No, it's genetic."

I continued my walk cautiously towards her, never taking my eyes off from her inert self. There was an overwhelming sense of compassion to hug her, but I wasn't sure if it was because I felt sorry for her, or if it was because she'd in fact saved my life, or if it was because I'd found a person as miserable as me.

"What are you doing…?" Samara asked with unease before I covered the few feet that remained between us with my arms open wide, and before she could utter another word, my arms had wrapped around her small frame and had pulled her close into my chest. Her face rested on my neck and her feet brushed up against mine; both parts of her were stone-cold. The friendly embrace only lasted for a brief second before Samara pulled away.

" _You_ are hungry," she said turning towards the only door in the room. "Come on, let's find something to eat."

I followed after her, watching her as the tattered bottom of her dress failed to sway as she walked gracefully across the room. Having reached the door, Samara pulled the thick wooden slab sideways; it then slid along the wall exposing the small wooden landing of the spiral staircase that paved downwards. Samara turned and took a fleeting, almost suspicious glance at me before turning her back and descending the stairs. She walked down silently, and more quickly than I would have thought her frail body could handle, and every now and then she would glance back at me as though she was suspecting that I was going to do something sinister to her (like push her down the stairs). The long walk down was without conversation, with the only sound around us being the echo of my footsteps that reverberated up the curved tower walls.

"This way," Samara said as she stepped onto the bottom landing of the stairs steaming ahead to the left.

My body now felt refreshed and well rested, and I was able to keep up with Samara's briskly pace as we arrived and then descended the next lot of stairs, which led us down into a dark, wide stone-walled hallway. Samara slowed her pace down, and once again turned to face me briefly, as though she was checking that I was still following her; but I got the sense that she was still watching her back – I didn't blame her, after all I was a stranger to her. At the end of the unlit, dungeon-like hallway, and after passing numerous closed wooden doors, we entered into a dusky, large open space that was clad in dark wood paneling of which stretched up the entire twenty foot high ceilings. Sinuous wooden trimmings that snaked over the walls connected seamlessly with the plaster ceiling that was also painted in a similar theme to the turret ceiling. To the right of the entrance to the room, the ceiling sloped sharply downwards by ten feet and into a cove-like roof line. Thick wooden shelves that served as a resting place for old copper pots and ceramic mugs, and an old fractured wooden bench that sat next to a dusty iron fire belly, lined the plaster walls of this area that I could only assume was a kitchen.

Glancing towards to the left side of the space, another huge theater-like velvet curtain covered the entire wall opposite the kitchen, blocking out most of the light from the outside world and casting the room into a shade of scarlet. A derelict looking piano stood facing the red curtain, and to its side, a violin sat on a wrought iron stand. To the wall adjacent, twenty foot high shelves held an assortment of books that appeared to have been read then hastily put back on the shelves in a messy manner.

"Over here, Jacob," Samara said from the kitchen snapping my attention back towards her. She walked over to a narrow door that was almost hidden in the corner of the arched room and pulled it open, and then she stood back, holding the door wide open. "In here, is food..."

"Um, okay, thanks," I replied hesitantly, staring into the small dark room of which I had no idea what harbored on the inside. Samara could've killed me by now if she wanted to, I thought as I avoided eye contact with her. I took a couple of steps into the room and immediately a waft of dust that smelled musty and metallic caused me to cough. The dim light from the kitchen was just enough for me to make out that I was standing in a storage cupboard of which its walls were lined with shelves that were empty except for a few cans of what appeared to be really old fruit. After grabbing one of the tins, I stepped out from the cramped room and back into the kitchen, brushing what felt like ash off my clothes. Samara then closed the door and turned to the bench to retrieve an old-fashioned can opener. Behind the cupboard door I spotted a rifle that sat facing upwards, propped against the wall.

"What's the gun for?" I asked with immediate regret, thinking that it was obviously for her protection.

"Hunting," she replied as she abruptly pulled the can from out of my hand and as she proceeded to open the tinned fruit I recognized the sound of waves gently lapping against a hard surface from beyond the large cloaked window.

Strolling across the room while Samara wrestled with the can opener, I walked up to the curtain to peak outside.

"Ah, Jacob…" Samara abruptly called out from the kitchen, startling me. "…Your food is ready."

"Thank you," I replied peeling the curtain open an inch, allowing the lackluster light of what appeared to be the late afternoon sun to rupture into the room.

Peering through the slit in the curtain, the view was as though we were almost on a cliff edge that bordered an ocean. The sea was sparkling brightly with reddened crystals that reflected the redness of the clouds above. The last time I'd seen anything so beautiful was the time I'd first gazed upon Jill and her stunningly beautiful eyes… oh Jill, how I wish you could be here….

 _"Jacob...your food,"_ Samara called abruptly again, but this time her voice was a whisper directly into my ear from close beside me. A shiver of fright spiked down my legs and as I spun around, Samara reached her arm, which was fully clothed and bunched around her hand, to the curtain and closed it carefully in such a way so that there was no light at all penetrating through the thick fabric.

"…please eat Jacob…" Samara said now lightly as she thrust the can of fruit into my hand before walking towards the kitchen area.

"Why are all the curtains drawn?" I asked as I took a seat on the frail, skinny piano chair.

"As I said before, I have certain… ailments."

"Are you allergic to light or something?"

"Something like that…" Samara said sullenly as she picked up the rifle and checked inside its chamber. "It's called Porphyria. When the sun hits my skin, it feels like someone is burning me with a magnifying glass."

"Oh…so are you stuck inside this place? Do you ever go outside?" I asked scrapping the last of the bland fruit from the can.

"I'm not confined to this place, rather confined to making sure I'm completely covered up."

"What do you wear? A coat, gloves and a hat?"

"A hooded cloak…" Samara cocked the rifle and slung it over her shoulder while she remained in the kitchen keeping an uncomfortable, watchful eye over me.

A curdling sensation stirred inside my stomach and I suddenly felt light headed. My torso cramped tightly, compressing my stomach and as I hunched over and wrenched violently towards the ground I could feel the burning of the food I'd just eaten come back up my esophagus and out my mouth.


	31. Chapter 31 - VISIONS OF NIGHT

**CHAPTER 31 – VISIONS OF NIGHT**

* * *

Samara had gotten to me in time to catch the vomit that erupted from my mouth in one of the kitchen pots.

"Thank you," I stammered spitting the last of the vile vomit out.

"Sorry Jacob, the fruit was probably really old. I shouldn't have offered it to you," Samara sympathized as she disposed of my sick down the sink. "Come on, we better leave before it gets too dark to see."

"How come? Where are we going?" I asked dazedly as I struggled to recover from the sudden bout of illness.

"Hunting – we need fresh food to eat," she replied handing me a glass of water.

"Oh, um, yeah," I concurred in the middle of a sip of the metallic tasting water. "Do you have another gun?"

"No, just the one," Samara replied quickly.

"Do I need to come?"

"Yes, yes you do."

"I guess you can't trust me, a stranger, to be left in your house alone…" I began softly. "I understand…I'd be the same…"

"No, not just that…" Samara said timidly as she turned her gaze away from me as though deep in thought. "It would be nice to have some… well, company."

"Oh, sorry, of course." I crossed the large room stopping in the center and glanced down the hallway that was starved of light. "It's been awhile... I guess, it would be nice, to err, have someone to talk to… after all the horrible…" I trailed off in lingering thoughts.

"Your shoes, they are by the front door…" Samara cut in, her voice had a distinctive forced tone to it now as if she was now on a mission. "Down the hallway, last door on the right. I'll be right behind you."

Having sensed an urgency in her voice, I nodded and headed down the hallway, opened the door at the end and stepped through into the large room beyond, which I recognized immediately as the room I had stumbled into a couple of nights ago, the night of my near-passing. As I walked across the room towards the front door, I glanced at the stain-glass window and was down-heartened by how inanimate the angel now appeared to be compared to when I first laid my eyes upon her. Surveying the dim room and noticing how dusty the floor felt underneath my feet, an eerie orange light flickered from a candle that sat on a window ledge to the right of the front door casting dancing shadows around the arched entrance way.

I spotted my shoes that sat under the flame and slipped them on, catching a glance at how dirty my feet now were from the dusty floor. The candle flame then bent sideways transiently as a creak sounded from behind me. I turned around to see Samara walking towards me; she now wore a thick cloak over her and she seemed to blend in naturally with the shadows behind her.

"Here, put this on," she said outstretching her hand against my torso. "It was my dad's so look after it."

"Thanks," I said as I grabbed hold of the rough, stiff moss-green duffel coat and slung it over my shoulders.

Samara raised the hood of her cloak over her head. "Hood up Jacob – it helps to camouflage us," she said and as she stepped past me and opened the door ajar; she then peered through the gap as though checking that the coast was clear before she headed outside. "Plus the sun is still out but only just."

We tracked along the cliff's edge within the shade of the trees until the sunlight gave way to the dark of the early evening. Samara came to a sudden stop thinking that she could hear something, but all I could hear was the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze close around us.

"What do you hear…?" I whispered.

"…shhh…" she snapped quietly, focusing on a distant area in front of us "…over there…can you see them?"

I strained my eyes through the duskiness air and between the tree trunks catching a glimpse of a few animals under a patch of weak moonlight, but couldn't make out what they were. "Yes, but only just..."

"It's boar – a family of them. Looks like an adult and two young ones."

She carefully swung the gun that had rested on her back forwards butting the handle against her shoulder.

My stomach rumbled, sounding ten times louder than it actually was due to our quietened surroundings and I took a step back as though I thought the sound would spook the prey. Samara glanced at me with an expression of brief worry before focusing her eyes down the iron sight of the rifle. She breathed in a short breath, exhaled, then laboriously breathed in again but this time held her breath in.

I struggled to take my eyes off Samara; she seemed overly involved in her pre-ritual prior to pulling the trigger. And just as my thought concluded with noticing how she held the gun so incredibly steady, I turned my head back to where she was pointing the rifle in time to receive a cracking sound into my eardrum. The gun was old and extremely loud, but it worked for as I strained my eyes back down the forest, I spotted the larger animal that no longer seemed to move surrounded by two much smaller pigs that appeared to cling very close by. Samara exhaled sullenly and slung the gun around onto her back and started to head into the bush towards the fallen boar without a word of excitement.

"Good shot!" I exclaimed in celebration, but Samara didn't reflect any of my enthusiasm.

I trailed behind her cloaked frame feeling somewhat awkwardly and as we reached the pig, Samara knelt down beside the animal, pulled out a thick woven cloth from her cloak and wrapped the boar's head wound with it, effectively concealing the bullet hole where blood was slowly seeping out. She then stroked its body caringly, whispering lengthily to the animal as though it was still alive while the two baby pigs snorted cutely on the other side of the body oblivious to the fact that their mother had just been killed and was not coming back.

"Err, what…" I began as I wondered about Samara's state of mind and doubted whether it was now safe to be around her, "… _what are you doing_?"

"Jacob…killing an animal for food is one thing, but receiving joy from it is another…" Samara snapped dispiritedly "…this animal… she was a mother, but I shot her for we need to eat and her body will nourish us just as her milk provided for her children, but regardless… we murdered her mother. Her foal will look upon us for care and as we ended their mother's life, it is the moral thing to do."

"Sorry Samara, I didn't mean to come off like that… The piglets..." I stammered "I err, understand them."

"Huh?" Samara gazed up at me with an irately confounded look as though she was on the verge of being angry at me. " _What do you mean?"_

"I, um…" I began as I walked around the corpse, knelt down beside the piglets and patted their leathery backs. "I lost my mother too…"

"Oh… I'm sorry Jacob…" she replied in a softened tone and as her expression dropped away suddenly so did her gaze which fell back to the fallen animal.

"No it's okay, she had been sick for a while and I guess I had time to prepare myself..."

"What was she sick with?" Samara asked kindly, still staring at the dead animal.

"Cancer...um… I guess being motherless is something we all have in common now…"

* * *

We both had to pull down on a tree branch in order to snap it off from the trunk. The severed tree limb was then used to slip under the boar's bounded hooves which enabled Samara and I to carry the kill out of the forest on our shoulders a moment before the night's darkness hindered our vision to the point where it was difficult to see our footing. The two piglets followed gleefully behind us at our ankles as we walked in a comfortable silence.

Once we arrived back at the manor Samara led me and the piglets around the side of the house and towards what appeared to be a building of some sort.

"Where are we going?" I asked straining to see through misty-air of the clearing.

"There are some sheds out here; our family used to have a milking cow and some hens," she replied as she continued towards the pitch blackness of the shed's shadow. "and there are some pens in there too. The piglets' new home."

"Samara... How can you see where you're going?" I asked as I focused intently at my every footstep, afraid I was going to trip on something.

"I've done this hundreds of times... I could do it with my eyes closed," Samara replied as we entered the cover of the shed.

A clicking sound near Samara was heard before the light of an oil lamp that sat on the timber framing of the shed wall labored to life as though it protested at having been disturbed. In the dim flickering of the orange glow that emitted from the lamp I spotted an array of lowly fenced pens, a few old and rusting pieces of manual farm equipment and a heap of hay bales against the far wall that were stacked to the tin roof.

"Let's put her down here," Samara said and in unison we both knelt down and rested the boar onto the hay covered dirt floor. "I will understand if you didn't want to stick around for the next part... it can get, well, messy."

"Messy?"

"Ah… Yeah. You see that hook up there?"

I gazed up and saw a huge menacing meat hook that dangled on its rusty chain above us. "Yes I see it..."

"Well once the boar is hung on it..." she continued while she untied the boar's front hooves. "I need to drain it of its blood and gut it... Can you give me a hand to lift it up?"

"Sure," I replied slightly repulsed from the thought of seeing blood and guts seep out of the pig's carcass. On the count of three, Samara and I, with a rear leg in each of our grips, struggled to lift the boar up but managed to get it onto the hook. Samara then withdrew a small knife from within her cloak.

"…so did you want to watch me slit her throat?" she asked widening her eyes at me while pulling a metal bucket from the shadow and placing it under the hanging boar.

"Err, no, I'll pass thanks," I said uncomfortably noticing dried blood streaks on the outside of the clearly well used bucket. "You wouldn't happen to have another light..."

* * *

After Samara had walked me back inside the manor, she instructed me to light the oil lamps around the main rooms before she went back to the shed to prepare the boar.

Walking around the room that I'd been sick in, I searched for more information on Samara and although the room had a couple of instruments, a wall-full of messily stacked books, and a large brown vintage couch to one side, it felt heavily void of any personal touch as though no one had really lived in the space for some time.

There were no clues about Samara whatsoever. I wondered how long she'd be while I took a seat at the piano chair and hit some of the keys mindlessly; the tones echoed hauntingly throughout the high ceiling room.

"The acoustics of the room are amazing aren't they?" Samara's voice projected from the far side of the room from within the kitchen.

"Um...yes, very err, atmospheric," I replied a little startled after not hearing Samara enter the room.

Ejecting myself off the chair, I headed to Samara, who was standing behind the wood stove and saw the roughly cut pork steaks sitting in a pan on the stove top. The fire had somehow already been lit and although curious, I didn't feel brave enough to ask how long she'd been in the room for.

"Can you watch these please? I'm just going to get something special," she asked with a slightly perky tone, and as I nodded, I noticed a glimmer of mischief in her otherwise empty eyes.

"Thank you," she said before heading out of the room.

The steaks had just finished cooking when Samara walked back into the room with a bottle in her hand. "I've been saving this one..." she said as she approached me grabbing a couple of brass goblets off the shelf on the way past.

"Oh, is that wine?" I asked scrapping the steaks onto two old ceramic plates.

"Yes it is...would you like some?" she replied placing the unlabeled bottle onto the bench top.

I hesitated for I was underage, but then realized that it didn't matter for we were so remote, no one would ever know anyway.

"What kind of wine is it?"

"Jacob..." Samara sniggered. "...it's red wine of course, can you not see?"

"Oh, yes, of course," I stammered stupidly.

"It's okay..." Samara injected quickly having detected my embarrassment. "It's your first drink..."

"Um, yeah..." I confessed sheepishly as Samara poured the red liquid into the goblets and it was true - I'd never had an alcoholic drink but it wasn't because I didn't want to, it was because I was never invited to any of the parties at school.

"Here you go...hope you enjoy," she said as she pushed the goblet into my hand with a slight smile that brandished across her smooth face. She then collected her goblet and raised it up to mine in a toast. "Here is to, um... I guess, a new chapter."

"Here goes to..." I mentioned as I raised the cup to my lips before whispering, ". _..nothing..."_

The wine hit my tongue with a foreign sizzle sensation, then as the alcohol washed further into my mouth, its layered taste tingled my taste buds excitedly before I swallowed, leaving my mouth dry and wanting more. Its flavor was both repulsive and delectable. I took another sip, then another and before I'd known it, my goblet was empty and Samara was refilling it. This refill didn't last and before long, Samara had poured me yet another one. The room dazzled around me in a way that I had failed to notice before. The oil lamps glowed brightly throughout the room, and the mural above burst with color and vibrancy as though the paint had magically became florescent and laced with glitter. The steak that had since become cold smelt overly rich yet I'd lost my appetite and couldn't bring myself to eat it.

Samara also drunk the wine at a hastened pace and after we'd finished the bottle, she disappeared to get another.

The new wine tasted exactly the same.

We headed outside with the new bottle and sat next to each other on the pavers outside the room that bordered the cliff; lapping waves of the ocean sounded gently below.

"The stars – they look as beautiful as ever," Samara mentioned as she topped up my cup again.

"Ha ha you're funny," I giggled. "It's too cloudy to see anything..."

"No I, I'm just saying that in general... I love looking up at them on a moonless light – they are so much more brighter and detailed…"

"Jill, she had once told me that our view of the stars is like the same view that other life forms would have if they looked up into their night sky…." I trailed off somewhat defeated at how I managed to turn Jill's amazing insight into a garbled and silly-sounding mess. "…sorry, it sounds a bit…well…iffy"

"I understand…Gazing at the night sky makes most people wonder if there are other life forms out there…and I for one believe with certainty that there is." Samara turned from the night sky and peered at me with kindness. "Jill, what was she like?"

"She was my world..."

Samara and I chatted for hours into the night, although I think it was me who did most of the talking (thanks to the wine). It was obvious almost immediately that we both had loads in common although our backgrounds were so varied and it felt like we were two lost and lonely souls that just needed to confide in each other; of course the social lubricant helped magnify this sensation. Samara opened up and talked to me about her family; her little brother, her mother and father and her grandma. She talked about her solitary life and how at first she didn't mind the peace and quiet and the simple pleasures of reading and creating music, but then I stumbled into her life and she realized just how much she missed her loved ones and how lonely she truly was. I talked openly about Jill and my dismal, depressive life back home and how I had crazily followed a photo to get here – I was that desperate not only to find Jill, but to leave my shitty circumstances at Jackson Valley – escapism seemed to be my only way out.

The wine had seemed to sharpen some of my sensors, yet dulled others. The sea breeze that swept up the cliff was cold only hours ago, but now it was if my skin had grown a layer of insulation and I couldn't feel the wind's chill anymore; the clouds appeared wispier and thinner than before, and now starlight was filtering through; the glittering stars themselves appeared more vividly in their red and blue hues. Samara appeared as though her ailments that had made her look gaunt, had subsided and in their place she now glimmered with exoticness; her thin bony cheeks had smoothed out and her dark eyes now appeared of a shade of midnight blue; her hair that fell alongside her face, now shined with an airy vibrancy. Then this heightened perception dropped off sharply and the scene around me started to blur. I could hear myself slurring my words unintentionally and Samara giggling at me uncontrollably; I was pretty sure that she too was feeling tipsy.

So, this is what it feels like to be drunk I thought as I got up suddenly and swayed off balance but somehow managed to prop myself up against the manor's ocean-side wall.

"We should get _you_ to bed Jacob…" Samara mentioned playfully from the left somewhere as the stars above started rotating.

As I started to slip down the rough manor wall, Samara slipped her arm behind me and propped me up. She then, with her freezing hand, grabbed hold of my arm and swung it over her shoulder; step by step, she somehow led me up the tower and tucked me into the same bed I'd woken up in only a day before. The last thing I remembered was the mural of the sun above me on the turret ceiling spinning violently around and around before being encompassed by a falling sensation surrounded by dark, hollow walls.

* * *

The sun's warmth tingled hairs on the back of my neck as I heaved the ax into the air once again. There was something satisfying about chopping wood; the physical movement, the fresh air; the resounding crack of wood as the ax head splits the target into two pieces. The forest around the manor clearing teamed with the sounds of bird calls and the light whooshing of the breeze passing through the leaves. This simple and carefree life was made for me; I felt happy and settled for once.

"This is what I call heaven," Jill said as she skipped around me picking wild flowers from the lengthy grass.

"Jill?" I asked confusedly.

"Yes Jake?" Jill replied airily.

"You can't be here, this is not real. I'm dreaming," I said as I picked up another log to split; the movement felt rhythmic, almost robotic.

"What do you mean you're dreaming Jake? Of course this is real. You found me, you actually found me and I'm so glad you did."

"But how did I... I mean, I must being dreaming. I don't even remember coming out here."

"Ha ha you're funny Jake. It must be your hang over from drinking too much wine last night," Jill said comically. "We walked out here from the manor after we had breakfast. You made me your special eggs on toast. But do you seriously not remember?"

"What about Samara?" I questioned hoarsely.

"Samara," Jill replied slowly.

"So you know her?" I interrupted abruptly.

"Jake, about her, she's...well she's not really who she says she is..."

"Jill, what are you saying? You're worrying me... Who is Samara..."

The tranquil atmosphere was abruptly broken by a shriek that sounded as though an animal was in sharp agonizing pain. A mass of squawking birds flocked up into the sky from the tree tops. I rested the ax against the chopping block and paced towards the clearing's boundary in the direction where the birds had flown up and peered with suspense through the thick trunks of the aging trees.

"Jill, head back to the house," I instructed Jill who then turned and headed quickly towards the manor without hesitation.

Straining my eyes, I spotted in the near distance a large dark animal that lay on the ground withering as though something was jerking it from behind, then as a gust of wind opened the canopy up slightly, the outline of a figure dressed in a weathered black cloak came into focus against the dark fur body of what appeared to be a bear. The cloaked figure was hunched over the dead animal with its hood burrowed deep into the animal's neck.

"Samara?" I called out anxiously. "Is that you?"

I remained transfixed to the grotesque scene as the cloaked figure contorted its hooded head upwards off the animal and jerked it from side to side as though sniffing the air around it before snapping its head backwards catching me in my now petrified stare. The creatures face was stark white with deep dark cracks in its skin and its huge eyes that were completely black were terrifying yet hypnotizing, and as I struggled to break free of its petrified grip on my body, the human-shaped creature raised itself up on its feet and darted towards me with its bloody jaws gnashing, bearing razor-sharp pointed teeth. The malformed creature moved towards me in a trance-like state as though it shifted the forest around itself under its will. My horror-struck mind screamed for me to run but as much as I tried, I couldn't move my legs as they now felt as though they'd been encased in concrete blocks. A loud pounding erupted into my ears and as the forest disappeared around me I let out a scream of terror as the demonic creature closed in on me with its skeletal hands outstretched aiming for my throat.

* * *

Letting out a prolonged gasp I sat upright in the four poster bed glad that the nightmare was just that. I waited for the feeling of the hang over to hit me and to take away the lingering angst of the nightmare, but it didn't come and I'd heard this before, that the first time you get drunk you don't get a hang over.

Surprised to see that the curtain had been opened wide, the sunlight drenched the room with light and warmth – however the corner where I'd first met Samara remained cast in shadow.

"Samara?" I called out chuckling about how much the dream had affected me. "I know you're there. I just had the craziest dream."

Samara snickered from the dark corner and a piece of her tattered dress dropped out of the shadow and into the sunlight.

"I was chopping wood…" I began excitedly but Samara abruptly sniggered again and I got the feeling something wasn't quite right with her.

"Samara?" I called out with unease as I got up off the bed and headed cautiously towards the shadowy corner.

"Samara – about last night…" Samara sniggered menacingly again and as I got closer to the corner, Samara's smirking face emerged into the light; her eyes were completely blacked over and her skin was pastier then normal; dark cracks had formed around her eyes and an ominous smile bared a row of lengthy, sharp incisors.

" _Samara…what - what is wrong with you…?"_ I stumbled backwards as I felt myself being enticed towards her demonic appearance unable to look away; there was a sensation that Samara was pulling me towards her, yet my feet didn't move an inch – it was as though the walls of the room around me elongated and stretched to an impossible distance. Then as though I was prey that was now within striking distance, Samara contorted forwards rapidly with her mouth stretched wide open and just as she pierced my neck with her razor-tipped teeth, the world suddenly dissipated around me.


	32. Chapter 32 - BEHIND THE VINE CORPSES

**CHAPTER 32 – BEYOND THE VINE CORPSES**

* * *

 **Chapter Prelude**

"I can see you're becoming somewhat smitten with him."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about... Your demeanor has clearly lifted ever since…"

"...ever since what? Our new arrival? Well, well, someone's bravely coming out of their shell... "

"I'll stand by what I've been telling you. It'd be unwise to get any closer to him – it could sabotage… Look, we still don't know anything about him…we don't know what harm..."

"…but if it was anyone else you would've advised me to kill him by now…"

"Yes, well, as true as that may be, he is different than the others...and I want to know why. Just be extra careful around him…at least until we have more intel…"

"That was him…but how? Do you think he could have heard us?"

"Was he calling out? I didn't hear anything, but I'm not surprised being surrounded by these thick stone walls... Anyway, this is why we need to be extremely careful…he's not like the others...and he mustn't find out... _aaannd she's gone._ Typical, she always disappears before I finish my sentences _._ Now where was I? Oh yeah, that's right, the temple on Venus and the Cave of Hell..."

* * *

My eyes which struggled to blink open felt crusty and hot and my mouth felt stagnantly dry. The bed sheets felt damp and as I turned my head on the pillow (which also felt damp) I saw a glass of water on the bedside table so I grabbed it hastily and took a sip. The water felt refreshing against the walls of my cheeks but as soon as I swallowed it my stomach lurched with a burning sensation and the water instantly lost its appeal. I heaved myself off the bed and stood up slowly waiting for the hang over to hit me but apart from feeling dehydrated and a little hungry, my body felt well rested. Placing the cup back down I then headed across the darkened room and peered through the gap in the thick drawn curtain to see that the afternoon sun that barely managed to pierce its rays through the hazy overcast clouds, was past its high point and was heading down towards the horizon – I'd slept most of the day away and a foreign feeling of shame hung over me, but it was laced heavily with a yearning for Jill. She was right there in my dream, within arms reach, and she felt so real. _Jill..._ It felt as though she had been ripped away from me again leaving another huge tear in my chest _._

I was sure I'd only slept until the next day, but as I had no phone or watch to tell me the date, I couldn't be sure and after spending weeks in hospital having no sense of time or date of when I came out of my coma, I'd be a fool not to think it was possible that I'd just slept more than a single day. Hell, I doubted whether or not I was still dreaming. After making my way downstairs (while rehearsing what I was going to say to Samara) and to the main room which I now dubbed as the "music room" I was surprised to see no signs of Samara. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing as I felt quite nervous after last night's events coupled with the nightmares but a part of me was eager to see her again. I had opened up her too easily, laid my heart out for her to control, but it was the wine I told myself. Nevertheless, I felt a little foolish, a little guilty even.

The steaks that still sat on the kitchen bench untouched appealed to my groaning stomach but upon biting into one of them a wave of nausea swept over me and I quickly spat the mouthful into the sink. So this is what my first hang over felt like, no headache but a loss of appetite – definitely could've been worse.

I stalked around the room for a few more minutes rehearsing quietly under my breath ( _Samara, about last night, I'm so sorry...)_ before deciding to see if I could find Samara and as I headed out of the room and into the hallway I instinctively called out "Samara" but my only reply was my own echo that bounced off the long hallway walls. After stalking hallway after hallway throughout the mansion, a pattern of the rooms and hallways emerged; methodically laid out, the rooms spanned down wings in opposite directions to the east and the west with the middle junction separated by the main tower. Both east and west hallways on both the main levels lead to door after door with the each hallway ending in a more decorative door at the furthest end. Upon entering through one of these more extravagant doors, I realized that they were master suites of their respective wings.

These master bedrooms each had a large four poster bed, a fireplace and some sheet-covered antique furniture. Some of the doors were locked to the other rooms, but the ones that weren't were sparsely populated with more sheet-covered furniture and smaller beds. All the rooms that were accessible had their curtains drawn and smelt musty and stale. The wallpaper throughout the entire mansion was peeling, heavily in some places, and it was clear that the manor had been unkempt for years. In fact it felt as though the entire building had been simply deserted of its occupants at some point in the distant past, and on a curious note, not a single photo was found in my exploration.

After descending downstairs and past the angel in the glass with the intention of searching around the clearing outside, I thought I could hear muffled murmuring as though two people were talking just beyond a wall somewhere and after spending the last few hours hoping to see Samara again I instinctively called out for her, but as soon as her name left my lips the murmuring stopped. I halfheartedly called out once more with no expectation of a reply – and I didn't get one. A deep sense of loneliness was setting in and I could feel fond memories of Jill seeping their way out of my mind vault – I needed to get some fresh air. Briskly walking over to the front door, a note that was stuck underneath the unlit candle on the window sill caught my eye. I pulled it out and read the words that were written in overly messy handwriting:

"Had to get out of the house to run some errands, will be back in a couple of nights. Don't venture into the woods, it's too dangerous. Samara."

The vision of the creature in the woods from my dream flashed briefly in my mind before I shook it out and reasoned with myself that Samara's warning would have been about bears and wildcats, not monsters. And before the horrid image had a chance to eat its way back into my thoughts I pulled the heavy oak door open and stepped outside and into the shrouded sunlight.

* * *

Heading to the left and gazing upwards at the towering vine-covered stone wall, I noticed for the first time statues of winged creatures that were perched upon the roof edges; their beady stone-eyes appeared to follow me as I continued to head around the left side of the building and to the shed. Having reached the shed I was hesitant at what sights awaited me but as I entered through the rusted-out sliding door I was surprised if not a little disappointed that the boar that had hung on the hook last night had now disappeared and all that remained in the room was a metal bucket that sat half concealed by hay. _Maybe I have been asleep for more than a day._

Walking curiously towards the bucket, I peered left to the piglets in the pen who were happily feeding away, and once I'd reached the bucket and knelt down beside it, I swiped the hay off the top to reveal a blood-lined inner but otherwise empty bucket – this was the bucket Samara used to drain the pig's blood in to. Instinctively I pulled away in disgust, but once again curiosity intervened and I took another glance. The blood that remained on the sides of the bucket was vibrant and translucently crimson in color, and upon pressing my finger against it, was also sticky and half dried out. I raised my blood-spotted finger tip up to my nose to see if the sweet smell that engulfed the room was from the blood but then the piglets' let out a sudden ear piercing shriek.

Springing to my feet and darting over to the pen to the fighting piglets, a sudden shiver of adrenaline struck me; the piglets were tearing at a piece of flesh and as one of the piglets ripped the piece of meat off the other, it became clear that the flesh that was hanging from the piglets jaw was the side of their mothers face. My stomach contracted painfully with a wave of nausea before I dry-wretched over and over again at the macabre sight. I hastily headed outside for to catch my breath and upon gazing back towards the mansion I realized that the shed appeared strangely longer from the outside then it did from the inside. I staggeringly trailed the front side of the shed towards where it joined up to the side of the manor. The dead ivy that clung to the manor's walls had worked their way over to the first section of the shed and had covered it to the point where only small patches of the shed wall could be seen. Running my hand along it, partly to balance myself as I recovered from the episode of sickness, and partly out of interest, my fingers rubbed along the scaly vine branches until it hit something flat edged and hard.

A heavily weathered latch that spanned across a thin gap between a wall and a door was secured with a rusty padlock that appeared as though it was on its way to falling off by itself. I grabbed the lock and yanked downwards; the latch, along with the lock broke away from the wall and toppled down to my feet. My fingers started eagerly pulling at the vines, tearing them from their resting place and before long I'd cleared enough vines and opened the door a jar. A thin, dim beam of sunlight partially illuminated the inside giving me a glimpse of what appeared to be a flat piece of sheet metal. I impatiently tore away more vines to the point where the entire door was now able to swing open outwards with a hard pull.

Inside the room, the rear half of an old maroon Mercedes stuck out from under a dusty cover; its rear chrome badge that read "280SE" and the Mercedes badge were the only notable parts of the car that stood out. A rush of excitement flushed over me as I entered the room and ripped the cloth cover from the car which resulted in a mass of thick dust that drifted out towards the door. Hunching over with my back towards the dust cloud, I reached for the door and pushed the door wide open. Once the dust cloud evacuated, I opened the door to the car and hopped in.

 _This vehicle represented mobility and freedom._

As I sunk into a daydream of hope that Samara and I could one day leave this place and start a proper search for Jill, I felt around for the car key with no such luck. Undeterred, I jumped out of the car and searched the room straining my eyes along the shadowy walls, then to a burst of excitement, I spotted a bench that held a small cache of tools; vintage looking hammers, bars, screwdrivers and spanners sat alongside a messy heap of rusty garden tools such as pruners, an ax, and an assortment of handled blades that ranged from knives to scythes. I grabbed a flat-head screw driver and headed back to the car. Jabbing the screwdriver forcibly down the key barrel, I twisted hard and after a loud pop, the barrel became free to move as if it the screwdriver was the car's new key, however upon attempting to start the ignition, it was clear that the battery was completely dead. A little disappointed, I hauled myself out of the car once more, rounded to the front and pushed it out of the garage so that I'd have more room and light to evaluate its condition.

Mom's old Toyota Celica required regular maintenance on it and luckily our local mechanic Trevor, out of pity or kindness, would talk me through what he was doing to the car in hope that one day I'd be able to save ourselves some money. What I'd learnt from Trevor was the basics; oil changes, fluid changes, brakes and the carburetor – this knowledge was bound to be of an advantage to me now.

Using the tools available, I checked the car over and after determining that all the fluids (although all requiring a change) were present and to a healthy level, I took a deep breath and moved into the next phase: with the driver's door open, one hand on the door frame and the other on the steering wheel, I pushed the car slowly along the overgrown cobbles and once the vehicle had reached a moderate crawling pace, I jumped into the driver's seat and dropped the car into gear and to my utter disbelief, the engine groaned then spluttered to life kicking out a huge black smoke bloom from its exhaust. I let out a cry of excitement at the win and drove the car around the clearing once before parking it back in the shed for I didn't know how much petrol was left in the tank. As I parked the car carefully back into the vine covered shed, it occurred to me that the car was useless unless the driveway that lead to the road was cleared of its overgrown shrubbery.

After grabbing as many garden tools as my hands would allow me carry, I strutted as though I was on a mission through the sunken entrance gates to the overgrown pathway. Hacking into the bush with a machete was something I'd always wanted to do and for the remainder of the day I was able to fulfill this desire to my heart's content, but as the day grew wearier and grayer, the calls from the animals around the forest became more pronounced, frequent and frightening.

I pushed forward until the last of the shallow rooted shrubs had been removed just before my panic starting setting in. With a deepening sense of urgency I sprinted to get back to the manor before I thought it'd become too dark to see, although by the time I'd set foot back into the safety of the mansion walls, I noticed that the sunlight, even through the lingering clouds, had since completely disappeared.

* * *

Late that night, after my stomach lurched with hunger pain, I attempted to feed on a can of beans from the cupboard in the kitchen and miraculously the beans, even though they tasted foul, had managed to stay in my stomach, but only just. The rest of the evening was fought with nausea and stomach cramps and so I retired to bed much sooner than I felt I would have otherwise.

Before I drifted off to sleep, I felt an sickly comfort with the thought that Samara watched over me from her shadowy corner of the room – even after that grisly nightmare.

The next day hit me with a brute illness and it wasn't until late afternoon that I felt well enough to get out of bed. Today my plan was to get out of the musty house and explore by car. Slowly I headed into the kitchen, washed my mouth out with water that tasted as though it was laced with metal shards from the manor's rusty pipes and headed to the front door where a new note that was stuck to the door caught my eye.

Written on a yellow faded parchment, the messily scribbled words read:

 _Hi Jake. Came back but saw you were asleep and I didn't want to disturb you. You looked like you needed your sleep. I've headed back out to find us some fresh food for us. Please Jacob, do not venture out into the forest after me, there are wild creatures that will see you as prey._

 _Can't wait to see you._

 _Be back soon._

 _Samara._

I sighed heavily at the note, stashed it in my pocket and opened the door to the fresh forest air.

Gazing upwards I noticed the clouds were a menacingly dark gray and were threatening to release their heavily held water. After deciding to throw on Samara's dad's old duffel coat, just in case, I headed outside where I pulled the car out of the shed again and prepared myself to push start it. And just as I was about to start pushing the Mercedes, I heard rustling from within the forest on the opposite side of the manor.

"Jacob! What _are_ you doing?" A resounding voice came from between the trees from the other side of the clearing. Samara emerged out of the forest in her cloak with a couple of dead hares hung around her neck.

"Samara!?" I exclaimed overwhelmed to hear her voice again. "…Samara! I've found a car!"

"That's good Jacob…" she yelled out as she walked at pace to clear the high-grassed lawn that separated us, "…and I have got us some food," she added triumphantly swinging one of the animals in her hand before swing it back onto her shoulder. She then slowed her pace and as she made it to the car she leaned in towards me and gave me an unexpected peck on the cheek; her cold, soft lips and nose pressed against my cheek and I marveled at how I'd forgotten how artificially white her face appeared to be under the dark shroud of her cloak.

"…and how are you feeling?" she said gazing her strikingly deep midnight-blue eyes upwards at me, making me instantly forget the two dead corpses that hung off her shoulders.

Thrown off by her affectionate gesture and how she now seemed to be completely relaxed around me, I stuttered my sheepish reply saying something about how I felt much better and that I'd gotten her notes but I was sure it was completely obvious that I was flustering having been caught off guard.

What was this isolation doing to me? Had I started developing feelings for Samara? But how could this be – I was still in love Jill...

"So what's the plan with the car?" Samara asked breaking my confusion of thought.

"I, err, was thinking we could possibly get out of here…maybe head to the village and get some fresh food?" I replied coolly.

"But we have fresh food here..." she replied holding one of the hares a little too close to my face.

"Um, I mean like fruit and vegetables," I replied wincing at the dead animals that lay around her neck. "...you know, like vitamins and minerals? I'm pretty sure that's why I've been feeling unwell, maybe scurvy?"

"I – I don't really want to head into the village Jacob," she said dishearteningly as her gaze dropped to the ground.

"How come?" I questioned briskly.

" _Jacob..."_ Samara protested exhaustively. "I'm worried that the village people will see me as a monster...you know they already talk about me, the strange girl in the forest."

"Because of your..., err, uniqueness?

"Thanks Jacob for trying, but I'm not sure it'd be a good idea..."

"I _have_ to go Samara, I'm hungry and I really don't fell that well..." I paused in thought as I tried to figure out what to say next. "...look, you don't _have_ to come, it's just that I don't know where I'm going and I don't know exactly how I'm going to pay for..."

"Alright...for you, I'll go – we'll use some of these hares as payment – but I have a couple of things I need to tell you..." Samara said as she opened the rear door of the car and flung the hares onto the rear seat. "Firstly, driving in the car can be tricky for me… to avoid sudden changes in the sun's rays that come into the car and so I will have to remain with my head down for the trip; and two, you will also have to wear your hood up... for, um, ...moral support."

"No problem… And thanks Samara, thank you for coming with me, I appreciate that it must be hard for you..." I said raising the hood of the coat and pressing my palms against the car's door frame. "You ready to go?"

"Um, yes, I guess so... Do you need a hand starting the car?" she replied earnestly.

"No I got it. Managed to start it myself yesterday," I replied as I dug my feet into the weedy ground and started to roll the car. "I'll get it started then I'll swing back around and pick you up." But today the car didn't start and after Samara had helped push the car back into the shed I lifted its hood, gathered some tools and proceeded, quite angrily, to take the air filter off.

"So what you do think is wrong with it?" Samara asked taking a seat in one of the dark corners in the musty room.

"Not sure, but maybe the carburetor is blocked? I'll pull it off and give it a clean...hopefully that'd do the trick," I replied disappointed.

The last of the daylight faded as I tightened the last bolt on the car and closed its hood. Samara had been playing haunting songs on the piano in the manor and every key stroke felt as though it reverberated through the house and into the shed, but as though she somehow knew I'd finished on the car, she stopped playing and appeared a moment later in the shed.

"Hopefully that will do the trick. We'll give it another go…" I mentioned to Samara as I threw the tools messily onto the bench. "You're good on the piano Samara."

Samara, who was inspecting the wall full of old gardening tools as though she was looking at them for the first time said, "Thanks Jacob, normally I don't have an audience... Anyway the markets will be closed now, should we try it again tomorrow instead?" she reasoned as she picked up a machete and ran her finger slowly along the blade's sharp edge. "Besides..." she continued, "I want to show you something, so you're finished with the car then?"

"Yeah, I'm all done but I'm not really a fan for surprises Samara...can you just tell me?" I replied shortly while my stomach growled yet again.

"No, I'm sure you can wait..." she replied coyly. "It'd be worth it, I promise. Follow me." Samara shot a cheeky look before walking out of the shed with me dragging behind her into the manor and to the kitchen where a small bowl of dark purple grapes sat on the kitchen bench.

"I picked these for you to eat," she said, delicately picking up a grape and pressing it gently against my lips. "Eat"

"Alright," I obliged, awkwardly letting Samara slip the grape sensually into my mouth. The grape although sweet, tasted coppery but it didn't matter as I consumed the entire bowl of grapes a moment later muting my stomach's growl and satisfying my hunger; Samara watched me devour the grapes with a playfully disgusted expression.

"Where did the grapes come from?" I asked leaning heavily against the bench with a certain solace.

"There's a grapevine at the back of the sheds...and um...and I've got another surprise for you," Samara mentioned as she reached into the adjacent cupboard and pulled out a couple of bottles of wine. "But let's forget about last time, that was a one off. We've all gone through one of those nights... You keen for some more wine?"

"What the hell, okay!" I replied swiftly having felt a spike of energy from the consumed grapes. We were stranded here for another night, might as well go ahead, but this time I'll know not to get drunk like last time.

"But not here...will you come with me?" Samara asked suddenly in a quietened voice shoving one of the bottles into my chest.

"Um, yeah sure..."

Samara silently lead me outside through a rear door to the pave stones that lined the cliff's edge and down along the paved pathway until we got to a heavily weathered post that was stuck firmly into the earth right on the rocky edge.

"Why are we being quiet? And where are we going?" I asked wearily as I glanced down the cliff face only managing to see the odd rippling reflected star on the oceans waters. "I can barely see anything!"

"Here! Grab my hand!" Samara yelled above the prevailing sea breeze that had suddenly picked up. Reaching out and grabbing her hand, we then made our way slowly down the rocky steps towards the beach below; Samara seemed completely unfazed by the treacherously darkened path. Once my feet sunk into the sand at the bottom of the cliff, I sighed in relief. "Whew! That was… intense! How did you…?"

"Before you ask, 'how could you see where we were going?' I will just say that my eyes adjust quickly in the dark. You see I spend little time in the light thanks to my, um, condition, and I guess over the years they have gotten somewhat used to my surroundings..." Samara interrupted as she popped the cork top off the bottle that then flew into the air landing into the lapping waves ten yards away. "...besides, I used to come down here a lot, in my, err, childhood. The path's become second nature."

"Makes sense I guess," I replied while I struggled to open my bottle of wine. "How do you open…?"

"Oh Jacob…" Samara began cutely taking a swig from her bottle. "The trick is to twist and pull, twist and pull…" After I had removed the wretched cork from the bottle, I also took a sip, savoring the first mouthful.

"This place is nice," I said digging my toes into the refreshingly cool sand and after a moment of silence and taking another drink of the red wine that went down the wrong hole, I spluttered, "Where to now?".

"Just around here, but we have to be quiet or they're run away," Samara hushed, excitedly heading off to the right to where the cliff protruded out to the sea. "Come on, follow me." I trailed behind Samara's seemingly weightless walk across the sand stopping at a cave in the cliff face that appeared as though it was almost directly under the manor.

"Wow! They never stop amazing me, the little critters!" Samara whispered as she stepped into the cave's mouth.

"Huh?" I questioned bewildered. "What little critters?"

"Oh, sorry, your eyes obviously haven't adjusted to the night yet… Let me show you." Samara whistled strangely in short sharp bursts, and the cave then suddenly lit up in streaks of bio-luminescence blue that hung off the cave walls like mini glowing stalactites.

"Oh my god that's incredible!" I gasped in amazement. "Kind of reminds me of 'Avatar'"

"Avatar?" Samara asked sitting down on a nearby rock.

"It's a movie about an alien planet where their forests are…beautifully vibrant with bio-luminescence plants and the humanoids are blue," I replied taking a seat next to her.

"Blue humans? How strange," Samara said.

After a while of drinking and discussing with Samara my top list of movies to watch, the worms' glow dissipated until their blue light was dimmed to a blush-blue color. I was dumbfounded at Samara's completely opposite and alien life; having grown up with little technology – her entertainment was exploring the nature around her, something I envied.

"Do you want to go for a walk along the beach?" Samara asked standing up and stretching as though she'd just awoken from a long sleep.

"Okay!" I replied brightly and as I stood up off the rock, my surroundings swayed slightly as the wine was starting its course in making me tipsy. "Let's go!"

As Samara exited the cave mouth ahead of me the wind gusted around her sweeping up the back of her untied cloak which flailed freely behind her. She turned back to face me and held out her hand and whispered. _"Come Jacob…"_

Feeling moderately tipsy now, I grasped her hand and she pulled me out of the cave mouth and into the wind. We jogged blissfully drunk along the shallow waves comfortably holding each other's hands and once we'd reached the cliff on the other side of the shoreline I gazed up at the thinning clouds and became awestruck at the clarity of the mystifying stars beyond.

A fleeting memory of Jill emerged but before I could ponder this, Samara caringly wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"Are you okay? You look a bit drunk!" she chuckled loudly. "Let's head back before we end up sleeping on the beach for the night!"

"What was that?" I asked abruptly.

"Wh – what do you mean?" Samara asked concernedly.

"It sounded like a piano…just a single clamor of a note."

"Um, no I didn't hear it sorry, must be the songs I played before. They are haunting your mind Jacob," she replied mockingly.

I now fought to keep my eyes open and a sudden churning in my stomach progressively got worse as we made our way back along the beach, up the cliff path (which I could now see as my eyesight had since adjusted to the night, alas blurred), inside the manor and up the tower where a wave of nausea had then reared through my head. Samara noticed my deteriorating condition and gently tucked me into bed, kissed me delicately on the lips and took an attentive seat next to the bed without saying as much as a another word. My fondness for Samara had grown significantly but I was worryingly confused; I still loved Jill and I still didn't completely trust Samara – there was definitely something abnormal about her, something I was sure she was hiding from me. How she able to keep her wits about her while I became tipsy and drunk? Was she poisoning me?

My slumber came fast with the resounding notes of the haunting piano songs laboring in my mind.

* * *

After waking up the next day in the late afternoon feeling once again ill and hungry we headed out in our hooded attire towards the village. The drive towards the town was rough but shorter then I'd expected, and for the entire trip Samara guided us as she remained hunched over herself using me to describe what the three dirt intersections that we passed looked like, although I got the suspicious feeling that she knew where we were the whole time at any given moment.

"Okay I think we're here," I mentioned and Samara gestured me to park the car off to a patch of grass on the side of the road at the bottom of a hill that appeared to lead up to a row of small houses. "How did you catch those hares without the rifle anyway?"

"Oh, I um set up some traps," Samara explained and at the very second that the car stopped, she cautiously straightened up in her seat.

"Looks like we've arrived... oh, and let me do all the talking..."

The main street of the village was larger than what I had remembered it to be on the night I'd arrived. Numerous tiled roofed houses were scattered along either side and continued down the valley and up the opposite hillside. A dozen small wooden stalls had been setup along one side of the main through-way and a handful of people hovered around between them socializing. The sky threatened to rain and the elevated village remained only just below a thin wispy cloud of fog. In this weather we hardly looked out of place in our hoods and thankfully we were under the security of the clouds and fog that blocked out the dying afternoon sunlight. Samara appeared to walk in a stride of confidence with the dead hares back around her shoulders. Only a few people turned briefly to glance at us as we walked to the first of the vendors.

"We'll skip this one," Samara mentioned as we walked past the first vendor who had pottery set up on his table.

"This one," she said gazing back at me with a short cheeky grin before stopping at the next stall which was covered with trays full of colorful fruits and vegetables. "Watch this..." Samara murmured to me before facing the woman behind the stall. "I'd like to trade with you."

"...With what? ...Those hares? Are you joking me?" The older red-haired woman who sat behind the stall scorned rudely at Samara. "Don't you be wasting my time!"

"This is not fish," Samara said in a low, flat monotonous tone. "This is not fish, meat."

"What are you saying? Are you confused? Did you not hear me before?" the weathered hook nosed lady questioned irately.

"You eat only fish, but this is not fish meat," Samara said more smoothly and empathized than before. "...not fish meat you crave..."

"I – I suppose, I am sick of fish..." the grocer mentioned to herself out loud.

"I'll give you this meat, for some of your selection," Samara said now in her more normal tone as she handed one of the hares over the trays.

"Yes, that would be lovely," the grocer replied dreamily having shifted her tone suddenly.

Samara reached over and picked up one of the smaller trays that held an assortment of garden food and handed it over to me. She then turned to head back towards the car.

"Err, what just happened?" I asked perkily bewildered, but as I turned to follow her back, a tall man who stood further up the street caught my eye. He stood side-on to us in front of another stall and appeared to be intimidating the old man behind the stall. Reaching out with my free hand and touching Samara's shoulder, I gestured her gaze towards the thug, but upon setting my sight back to the staunch man, I spotted, with a sudden surge of anxiety, an angel tattoo on his neck. My heart dived suddenly into my stomach.

"We need to leave – _now!"_


	33. Chapter 33 - SAMARA THE SWEET MURDERER

**CHAPTER 33 - SAMARA THE SWEET MURDERER**

* * *

A look of terror erupted on Samara's face as she swiftly spun around. Following her lead I spun towards the car and caught a glimpse of the tall dark haired man as he spotted us before he dashed hurriedly out of sight.

" _Come on_ _Jacob!_ " Samara urged glancing back at me mid-run. We sprinted to the car at the bottom of the hill. Samara having reached the car first, opened the driver's door and slid across the bench seat waving her hand frantically at me.

"Quickly Jacob!" she shouted as she practically pulled me into the car whilst turning the engine on before huddling herself back down into her protective position against the near-absent sun.

As I drove the car away from the village and steered around the first of the cliff-side bends, I chuckled loudly at the small rush of adrenaline I'd just experienced."You know he's not following us..."

"...so who's that following us then?" Samara scoffed from her lap as she remained bent over in her seat, protected from the sun.

"Huh?" I gasped confusedly; darting my eyes to the rear view mirror I spotted a brief glimpse of a dust covered pickup truck before it disappeared as we took another corner at a quickened pace. "Where the hell did he come from?" Pushing the gas pedal hard against the floor, the rear wheels suddenly broke traction and the tail of the Mercedes kicked out sideways. Struggling to keep the car under control and from careering off the cliff, the pickup reappeared in the mirror and it had appeared to have closed the gap – it was now only yards behind us. Glancing despairingly at Samara with a hope that she'd have an escape route planned out, she gazed back at me with a look of frustration as if she was trying to tell me to hurry up and she then swiftly sat upright in her seat.

"Stop the car Jacob, or he's going to run us off the cliff!" she said abruptly.

Before the brakes had had a chance to slow the car down noticeably, the dusty truck smashed into the rear of the Mercedes, jolting me violently forward in my seat towards the windshield. The car then spun forcibly around for what seemed like forever before resting driver-side facing the pickup which now sat between us and the cliff's edge.

Short bursts of gunfire suddenly clapped from within the truck and I froze, stricken with disbelief at the scene that was unfolding before me. I watched hazily as the terrorist inside the vehicle continued to shoot at us while he opened the truck door to advance; his bullets seemed to pierce effortlessly through the car windows, only narrowly missing our heads.

" _Put your head down!_ " Samara screamed as she shoved my head below the window line for cover. Unexpectedly she then covertly slid out of the car and out of my now very limited sight.

"Samara...no!" I screamed above the clapping of the gunfire but too petrified to move an inch. "You'll be killed!"

But in a flash of time later, the firing ceased and was replaced with a loud pathetic whimpering noise, like one a dog would make after it'd been punished severely by its owner. Mustering up a mere ounce of courage, I poked my head up and peered cautiously out of the shattered window. To my utter bewilderment, I saw the legs of the terrorist being dragged lifelessly behind the truck until only his feet remained visible. Above the sound of the idling vehicles and the gentle waves below, the gnashing sound of bones grinding together sickened me as the terrorist's boots then twitched in a rocking motion.

"Sa – Samara?" I gasped out weakly and the gnashing noise suddenly stopped along with the movement of the terrorist's feet. "Are you okay?"

Then as though the terrorist was being handled by a strong man, I saw his feet roll swiftly, then roll again, until they disappeared off the cliff face. Frantically, I jumped out of the car and rushed around to the pickup truck where Samara was kneeling on the ground, her face bowed downwards, concealed by her large hood.

"Samara... Are you alright? What just happened?" It dawned on me that she'd just killed a man and a wave of nausea and denial flooded into my head. "Oh my god..., you, you killed him!"

" _I had to Jacob..._ " Samara urged sullenly with her head still bowed towards the ground as if she was ashamed. "Otherwise he would've killed us, or worse. Trust me. he would have done worse things to us."

Anxiously staring at Samara, I couldn't make sense of the stampede of emotions that now rushed through me; the world had started to spin and a deafening beat drummed in my ears. "How did you? What were you...err...doing to him...? That sound... I can't get it out of my..."

"He ran out of bullets Jacob and I managed to use a knife to subdue him...but afterwards I was, um, searching him for resources...but when I heard you walking over, I didn't want you to see the man's corpse after I'd... I figured you were still sensitive."

"What...? Sensitive?" I cast out confusingly as the world around me started to come back into partial focus.

"Well, you're fresh from America...and you've come to a war-torn country in the middle of nowhere... You;re not used to this way of life..." Samara trailed off as she stood up, head still bowed and hidden, and opened the pickup's door. "We should head back... before we're discovered and more of them come."

"Samara, are you okay?" I asked taking a slow step towards Samara who was now seated and ready to drive off.

"Get in the other car Jacob... please," she urged in a soft, lowered tone pushing what appeared to be a bloody rag into her pocket. "It's the knife Jacob," Samara said as she caught my stare.

"Okay... um..." I replied as I mindlessly started jogging to the Mercedes; after I'd jumped in and put the car into gear, Samara drove the pickup past me and disappeared around the corner in a cloud of dust.

The drive back to the manor seemed drawn out while I gathered myself as best I could.

 _I'd just witnessed a murder and I felt an instinctive urge to report it, but to whom? Who in this barren place is going to care? We were always taught to seek the police, to report the crimes, but was Samara right? Is murder sometimes the lesser of two evils?_

* * *

The day's light was waning behind the ever-darkening clouds as the afternoon approached dusk and after struggling to keep up with Samara and her astonishing ability to control the pickup truck, we finally reached the manor's gates. Samara parked the pickup in the shed and strode out with her head cautiously downwards.

"Jacob, I'm sorry," Samara began as she rested herself on the driver's door sill of the Mercedes and glanced down at me with her lively midnight-blue iris's. "I guess I should tell you more before you start asking... Those men with the tattoos...they're hunting me...I'm what they call 'marked'"

Unable to utter a single word as though hypnotized, I stared transfixed to the other-worldly beauty of Samara's eyes; their color appeared to be part organic, part artificial and appeared as though they had the faintest glow flickering deep within.

"...and they are hunting me because...well, I got lucky... I was able to defend myself against them when they tried to claim this place as their own." Samara strolled elegantly around the front of the car and hopped into the passenger seat before continuing, "Jacob, when my family was murdered some years ago they knew I was in hiding in the house, but they couldn't find me. I had to defend myself after I saw what the monsters did... I was able use my father's rifle and my knowledge of the manor's layout to lure each of the murderous scum into traps. The men had stupidly split up and searched for me one by one, after all they must've thought I was only a girl, not possible of causing them any harm, or so they thought. The first few men I killed were just henchmen and I was simply defending myself, but the last two men..." Samara paused and slumped defeated in her seat, her hypnotism over me seemed to release and I was able to fulfill the urge to place my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not sure what to say," I began softly, "That must've been a horrific thing for a young person, or anyone to go through." Issues I had back at Jackson Valley didn't seem so bad now.

"It's okay Jacob, thank you, but there's worse things I'm yet to tell you, the last people I killed... There was a ringleader and a male teenager. The young man, only a few years older than me seemed to always stand in the shadow of his leader obeying every little demand he had. I felt sorry for the boy. After I had taken the ringleader's life in a visibly disturbing revenge, in front of the boy, he then begged me to spare his life saying things like 'It wasn't my choice, they forced me...' or '...they would slaughter my family if I didn't join them...' but what other options did I have? I took his life Jacob, saw his soul leave his body and I felt something I was scared of: a hint of relief of course, but it was underlined with a sick satisfaction. I killed every single one of them – but I didn't need to! I could've simply escaped, but I chose to stay behind and murder them all...and I'm afraid a part of me enjoyed it...so this is part of the reason why I kept myself locked away from society...but it's also because they keep on trying to find me..."

My mind could barely absorb what Samara was saying as a progressive burning sensation entered my lungs. "What is that burning smell?" I asked utterly bewildered as I glanced out of the car window and around to the clearing where I spotted a thin pillar of dark grey smoke some distance away edging its path up towards the ominous clouds above.

"Oh no...could it be...?" Samara started as she slid out of the car. "Jacob, just stay in the car..."

"Why? What's going on? Do you think more of them have come?" I replied but Samara had already bolted inside the manor – a brief moment later she had returned with her rifle.

"I'll go and check the fire out, you should stay here and seek shelter inside the manor," Samara commanded as she slung the rifle over her shoulder and started strutting across the grass.

"No, that's crazy! This whole thing is just mental! I don't know what's going on...but I'm coming with you...!" I shot back as I climbed out of the car and jogged after her. "If we're going to survive...we need to work with each other..."

Samara seemed too focused to respond as she walked briskly towards the column of smoke. Glancing back at the fruit that now sat messily in the tray on the rear seat of Mercedes, it seemed my appetite had vanished, at least for now.

Having caught up to Samara a minute later, we silently headed into the forest together and after an anxious, tense-filled walk, we reached the source of the smoke where we remained a safe distance away, hidden among some shrubbery between two thick tree trunks. Twenty meters ahead of us the forest floor dipped down slightly into a bowl shaped clearing where a couple of yellow tents lay collapsed around a dwindling camp fire. Nobody was in sight and it appeared as though whoever was here had left in a hurry. The sound of rain drops pattering on the leaves above us started as we thoroughly surveyed the spot. I didn't dare open my mouth.

"I think it's clear...let's go in for a closer look. But please Jacob, keep alert..." Samara whispered hesitantly from beside me as she silently swung the rifle back over her shoulder. Following her lead, we then both stood up and walked slowly into the campsite.

"The tents...they've been ripped open!" I exclaimed as I knelt down, grasped a handful of the tent and opened the fabric up. "And there's still clothing and gear inside. They must've left in a hurry."

"Same in this tent," Samara said as she investigated the second torn-up tent.

A small black boxy item that was in the corner of the tent that I was at stood out and upon reaching further inwards and pulling the object out from the tent, I realized that it was a Polaroid camera. Holding the camera up to my eye, I pointed it at Samara who suddenly turned around to face me.

"What are you doing?" she asked slightly oppressed.

"Say cheese," I replied halfheartedly, pressing down on the camera's shutter button. Samara irately shied away momentarily before scorning me with an annoyed expression.

"Jacob, you should've asked me first..."

"Sorry," I replied apolitically. "Sometimes I just don't think..."

The photo slid out from the bottom of the camera and after briefly waving it in my hand. The photo showed Samara glancing away artfully; only a small part of the side of her face was visible underneath her thick cloak, although it was blurred and appeared overly dark.

"Shit photo anyway, you know you're supposed to keep still for the camera right?"

Samara curiously narrowed her eyes at me as though eager to see the photo and after placing the camera back on the ground, I went to put the photo into my pocket, but Samara intercepted and grabbed the photo from me. She then tore the picture up.

"Fair enough..." I reasoned.

The rain seemed to pick up now and was steadily coating the forest with its cold, dampening depression. A low snarl burst out from behind me and before I'd been able to turn around, I'd been shoved forcibly from behind. Pain suddenly erupted all over my back where it felt as though numerous hot fire pokers had just been scored down my skin. Tumbling forward towards the campfire, I collapsed to the sodden dirt and rolled painfully onto my back only to catch a sight of a massive black bear whom had attacked me; it was now closing in to finish me off.

"Help! Samara!" I shouted in a panic and as I darted my eyes to Samara, I saw her fighting frantically with the loading mechanism of the gun which appeared to be malfunctioning. "Help me!"

The beast was now lunging towards me at speed, its claws aiming straight for my neck. Petrified, I couldn't move out of the way – my muscles seemed to have lost their connection with my brain. A small gust of wind sounded from across the campfire. The bear was then knocked violently off its feet landing heavily on its side where it rolled several times before managing to stand up and scampering off cowardly.

"Are you okay Jacob? Come on, let's get out of here," Samara urged quickly as she stood over me glancing cautiously towards where the bear escaped.

"I'm hurt... I think the bear clawed my back..." I replied disjointedly as I noticed Samara's face become even whiter than normal as though she was about to pass out. "Are you... err, okay Samara?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Samara replied shortly and as she turned to face me she smiled, seemingly forcibly, her skin having returned back its normal color.

"How did you...? What did you do to the bear?" I asked, painfully confused as the forest appeared to have suddenly darkened and shrunken around me.

"You're hurt Jacob, you should save your energy... let's get you home."

* * *

After stumbling dazedly back home held up by Samara's arms, Samara lowered me gently onto the couch in the "music room".

"Samara, why won't you tell me what you did to the bear?" I pleaded as I felt the room starting to spin.

"Jacob, you haven't eaten and you've just experienced huge stresses...I don't blame you...after all you are..." Samara paused as she paced throughout the kitchen searching through the cupboards. "I mean the car chase, the gunshots and being attacked by a bear...your mind is not coping and it's not your fault...you're not conditioned for these kinds of things..."

"What are you trying to say? That I imagined the bear being thrown as if it was toy doll? ...Samara?" I shot weakly back noticing I'd started to shiver having being stuck in wet, cold clothes and I was struggling to stay awake.

"Sorry Jacob, I did fight the bear off but I used a piece of half-lit wood from the fire...that's all," she said rather calmly as she walked back towards me. "Jacob...you're cold...I'll go run you a nice warm bath."

* * *

 _Run Jacob... you must run away..._

 _Jill, was that you?_

* * *

Samara returned just before I felt myself passing out; lying down on my wounds was highly uncomfortable and so I'd been forced to sit upright until Samara had come back to my aid.

"Come on...let's get you in the bath. You'll feel so much better afterwards." Samara said sweetly as she assisted me to my feet and led me up one of the smaller towers nearest the sea cliff.

The dimly, candle lit circular room was completely empty except for a rusty claw bath that stood near the single tall, wide window. The dusky sky beyond continued to rain heavily outside and streaks of water descended along contorted paths down the window's distorted glass panes. Samara helped me cross the cold stone floor and the strongly sweet metallic smell of the large bath became almost unbearable.

"Let's get you out of these clothes," Samara breathed softly from behind me as she lifted my wet shirt up and over my head exposing the bleeding cuts on my back.

" _You just want to get me naked_." I joked seemingly involuntarily as though I was half drunk.

 _"Jacob,"_ Samara began gently as she slowly and carefully removed my pants from around my ankles. "Trust me, you're going to feel so much better after this bath..."

"Okay," I replied sheepishly barely able to control this sudden feeling of tipsiness.

 _Samara was now seeing me naked for a second time._

"Hold my hand," Samara said as she helped me into the hot, foam covered bath. "Sorry about the thick layer of bubbles."

"That's okay, I like bubbles," I replied slumping into the water which felt instantly soothing. Childishly scooping a handful of bubbles, I blew them into Samara's face. "Do you like bubbles?"

"When I was a kid, sure."

"Come on Samara! We almost died today! Let's celebrate and have some fun!" I said excitedly blowing another handful of bubbles into Samara's face. "Come in...and join me!" I reached over the bath edge, grabbed Samara's hand and pulled her towards me. She only partially hesitated and gave a warming smile.

"Are you sure?" she replied hesitantly.

"Yes...why wouldn't I be? You are also in wet, cold clothes...and this bath feels so nice..." I said perkily.

"But what about my conditions? What if you don't like what you see?"

"You're a beautiful person Samara, 'conditions' and all! Plus you saved my life twice in one day! Look, if it makes you feel more comfortable, you don't have to take your clothes off..."

"Alright...okay then," Samara replied, slowly slipping off her cloak which fell heavily onto the ground. "I trust you Jacob, so if you would please be a gentleman and turn around..."

"No problem," I replied cheekily and as I turned away from Samara and towards the window, her shadowy reflection shimmered in the glass.

Unable to turn my gaze away from Samara's slender yet sexily curvy reflection, Samara then abruptly slipped into the other end of the bath.

"Was that a good view in the window?" she asked nervously.

"Yes it was...err, alluring."


	34. Chapter 34 - THE LIGHT AMID THE FLAMES

**Chapter 34 – THE LIGHT AMID THE FLAMES**

* * *

Every now and then Samara's feet would rub longingly against my calves; her feet were so much colder then the water but they felt incredibly smooth. My feet also wandered, finding their way against Samara's soft, if not slightly rigid legs and every time we touched, a sensual sensation quivered through my body, along with a guilty thought of Jill. Samara at times seemed to avoid my eye contact, yet at other times she seemed to desperately crave it. Upon one of her hungry glances, I decided to slip my foot further up her thigh. Samara responded with a slow, seductive smile. She then rose slightly out of the water, the foam concealing her chest, and glided slowly across the bath water towards me **.** Her legs wrapped around the outside of mine and as she lowered her naked body on top of mine, I felt her breasts press slowly against my bare chest. She stroked the side of my neck staring intently at it while she bit her lower lip. Her eyes were a brilliant deep blue and it was as though a small flame flickered from within her irises. Samara's beautifully shaped face, now only an inch from mine was absolutely stunning; how her perfectly white sculpted skin that curved its way over her cheeks didn't hint at a single flaw; her lush, full lips pouted temptingly.

 _I couldn't look away._

A strong, overpowering desire swept over me and as I gave into this irresistible temptation another urge suddenly laced its way through, slipping me into a trance like state.

"Kiss me..." Samara whispered sensually, but her lips didn't seem to move.

Caving into the passionate rush I felt for Samara, I leaned in to kiss her lips but uncontrollably, I cocked my head to the side, opened my jaw wide and bit down gently on her neck...

"Jacob...what are you doing?" Samara said intrigued as she ran her fingers through my hair, embracing my love bite.

A small amount of sweet, nectar-thick blood trickled onto the front of my tongue and after savoring the copper-sweet taste that lingered all too shortly, I swallowed. It tasted as though the drop I'd just had sent me into an impossible nirvana for the shortest attainable time – and I wanted more.

I bite down harder in a desperate attempt to draw more blood, to be sent back to nirvana.

"Jacob! That's enough!" Samara said firmly as she pulled herself away from my grasp.

"But... I need... I need more!" I spluttered chaotically as though some demented mental patient had taken control of my body.

"Jacob, what's going on?" Samara said bewildered, sitting up attentively in the bath with a look of eagerness on her pale face.

As I stumbled out of the tub and slipped on the wet floor I realized to my horror that I was now covered in blood. Panic stricken and disorientated, I took in what breaths I could and I picked up a sweet scent, similar to that of the sweetest smelling flower from outside somewhere.

"I – don't – feel – so – well," I blurted struggling to put my clothes on my blood-soaked body before stumbling drunkenly out of the room. I had made it to the bottom of the stairs barely managing to not fall down them before Samara, who was now only wrapped in a small red towel had caught up to me.

"Where are you going?" she asked concernedly with widened, interested eyes.

Staring blankly momentarily at Samara, another violently sickening urge made its way through me as I darted out the door and into the early night muttering, "...need more. _Need...more! N_ _eed...more! N_ _eed...more! NEED_ _...MORE!_ "

"No Jacob, wait! ...it's not..." Samara's yell faded as she was unable to keep up with my sudden bout of superhuman speed as I crossed the clearing and into the forest. " _Wait...!_ "

The trees blurred past me as though they were made of horizontal bars of disintegrating matter yet I felt that there was an abundance of time to navigate through their closely-clustered trunks. My rapidly pacing feet were weightless and impervious to the sodden roots and the varying gradients of the forest floor. The tree covered hills before me were climbed without slowing down and without stopping for breath – it was as though the effort to summit them was no more than stepping on a mole hill. The sweetly smell was getting stronger and the craving to devour this scent was becoming unbearable.

There was no thought, just a pure, insatiable instinct to consume.

Only a couple more seconds.

Then as I arrived at the summit of the next peak the trees died away and the view of a widespread camp came into view. Spread far and wide over the flat dry terrain ahead were rectangular blue tents, but the divinely aroma wasn't coming from there, it was coming from miles beyond, where a war wounded city sat scarred; its parameter paved with half fallen concrete walls that were in some places ten feet high. Little luster-red orbs appeared to float in my vision from scattered out places from within the apocalyptic city; these seemed to be the origin of the sweet, heavenly scent. But there was a concentration of them congregating in one part of the city. The red orbs and the view of the dull stone block buildings abruptly faulted me before completely fading away into darkness. Gazing up at the night sky, the stars that were only moments ago vivid and vibrant with life also drifted away into the blackness of space.

Suddenly a searing pain tore its way from inside my body and it felt as though a thousand red-hot shards of glass were cutting me from the inside, scoring at my organs, trying to pierce their way out from my skin. Collapsing heavily to the ground to my knees and with my face resting on the sandy dirt, I reached out to God and pleaded for the internal burning to stop. God, nor any mortal, could hear my silent screams of agony as the scorching ever so slowly diminished.

 _I'd never felt pain like this before..._

The stars then seemed to shine down on the ground again and I lifted my head dreamily towards the city ahead – the red orbs had returned and they were now brighter than before; pulsating, conflicting with one another, the orbs pounded in my head in a chaotic yet enticing rhythm and I needed to stop their horrid beating yet at the same time I craved to consume them, to fulfill this unstoppable desire of hunger. My veins throbbed painfully with an addiction I'd never experienced before – it was a craving so intense, so compulsive I felt as though if I didn't absorb as much as possible I'd forever lose my sense of self in a blackened pit of solitary darkness, never to see that Nirvana again.

Pacing unnaturally fast across the flat sandy plain, I covered the miles in mere seconds and before I'd had a chance to think anything through, my body urged me forward past the city wall towards the first deliciously glowing spot in my vision – it was as though I was an insect flying irresistibly into a light bulb in the middle of the night, unable to focus on anything else. But this attracting red light was soon drowned out by the overpowering discord from the middle of the city where the largest red pulsating light was being emitted from.

Following the ungovernable instinct that had taken over my cells, I dashed across the rubble-filled streets and soon found myself standing in front of an old mosque. The front face of the mosque was covered in archways and a tower stood at each corner of the building. Huge balloon like structures sat on the otherwise flat roofs beyond, but I didn't feel the desire to admire the ancient building's details as I now stood between two guards who appeared to be reacting extremely slowly to my arrival. Both guards were clad in kaftans and camouflaged cargo pants, their heads, covered in black balaclavas and their hands cradled an assault rifle which gave them a staunch look about them. But the most striking and unusual feature of these young soldiers was the red twig-like lines that pulsated along their torsos and limbs beneath their clothes – it was the same color as the orbs that still hovered tantalizingly around me from a distance – people, as it seemed, were the source.

The guards' facial expressions slowly became a mix of horror and surprise. Unable to hold back the urges, I soon succumbed to the unbearable thirst and thrust myself against the guard on the left. Grasping his balaclava, I cocked his head sideways exposing his skin, and heard his neck snap. The candy-red stems beneath his clothes appeared to pulsate faster now as they beckoned me to indulge my cravings.

A numb pain surfaced suddenly from my top jaw as though my teeth were being pulled downwards by a supernatural force.

Holding the limp guard in my grasp I bit down on his neck and embraced the flow of his blood as it entered into my mouth. Sudden flashes of someone else's memory flickered in my head:

" _Be careful out there. I wish you weren't being sent to the front line again,_ " a woman fully covered in black said from a candle-lit room.

The memory became overlapped with another...

" _Son, we'll make a good warrior out of you. You weren't destined to write poetry, you were destined to serve your God!_ " An older man dressed in a light white kaftan spoke from behind a stand of dozen candles as he stroked his long white beard.

This memory dissolved into several more before ending with an image of a young woman smiling and cooing "... _my baby boy_..."

A sharp shock in my chest suddenly pulled me out from my victim's memories; it was as though I was surfacing for air after almost drowning. The taste of bitterness filled my mouth – it wasn't quenching, close to vile, yet I craved more.

I found myself staring at the other guard who had his gun pointed at my head and his finger on the trigger. His face now portrayed sheer terror and panic yet he still moved slowly as though he was stuck in a nightmare trying to escape his eventual death. Sweeping towards him then behind him, I didn't bother cocking his head before I sunk my teeth deep through the fabric of the balaclava and into his neck. More memories flooded me but these were different to the last ones – these were memories of abandonment, torture and rape. This man had destroyed many families by raping and killing countless times, all in the name of his God. The last memory was one that showed a mum and dad being stabbed to death by men dressed in black and as one of the men approached me with a twisted smile he said between his gaped teeth,

" _Your parents made you weak. I will raise you to have a purpose and you will learn fast_."

The slowly fading memory left me grossly unsatisfied and I dropped the man with disgust, his limp body drooped over the stone stairs like a rag doll.

The tormenting red orbs emerged back into my surrounding sight and I now recognized that they were all slightly different colors – some were darker, more maroon than others. A large concentration of them lay beyond the entrance way and I needed them – _one of them surely could send me back that nirvana._ The wrought iron door knob turned but the heavy wooden slab refused to move – the door was discouragingly locked, but as I pressed my shoulder into the delicately carved double door, the wood fibers seemed to break apart and splinter away – it was as though the door was made from thin balsa wood. And so I stepped _through_ it with little effort like a hot knife slicing through butter but my mind struggled to comprehend the occurrence around me, after all, no human can simply walk through a door.

Gazing around the brightly lit, high ceiling room, of which I now stood among the wood splinters from the destroyed door behind me, my breath was simply taken away as I admired the intricately carved out pillars and archways – every single stroke of the chisel was intently detailed and all these hand carvings created one large scaled technical, yet mystic pattern throughout the room. A man yelled out something in Arabic, breaking me out of my newfound awareness of this finer detail. The voice's tone suddenly dropped mid sentence as though he was an audio record slowing down.

Across the large open arched room I could see him glowing red as he aimed a small gun at me.

Before he had had a chance to pull the trigger I darted across the hard marble floor, rounding him before feeding from his jugular vein. The man's heart pumped his blood away into my mouth filling my thoughts with harsh memories of a military up-bringing. But there was no love in his taste and no heaven to be had that I was desperately seeking. After I had released my latch on him and dropped his dead body to the floor, another wave of emptiness swept over me.

 _The next one will satisfy me._

The maroon-colored, tree-like veins that now resembled human shapes were starting to make their way towards me from all over the room, but I couldn't wait for them to close in on me – they moved too slowly – so I ran to each and every one of them instead. It all felt like a dream that I had complete control over... _I was my own god._ Red flashes evoked me as my victims tried in vain to hit me with their sluggish bullets but I was too quick to be struck, draining every single one of them before either of their fingers could push down on their triggers a second time. But there was no tenderness or solace in their flavor and the now silent air around me was accompanied by a deepening eternal hunger.

Sensing more people underneath me, I mapped out the adjacent rooms and discovered a hidden door underneath a thick rug in one of the smaller rooms. The hatch was locked closed but I grabbed the padlock and pulled; as though it was as brittle as a thin pane of glass, the lock snapped off its latch giving me access to the blood that dwelled within the bodies below.

There was an overbearing stench of urine and sweat that wafted out from the trap door along with short shuffling and low whimpering noises. One of my soon-to-be-victims, who was only meters underneath my bare feet, captivated me with their peculiar white color and overly-fragrant scent – this was the one I was looking for. After dropping the ten feet through the trap door to the floor below, I darted my eyes around the constricted room. Walls that were lined with metal cages and chains held captive dozens of half-dressed girls and woman, all of who appeared near frozen with desperate looks sewed upon their faces. In the middle of the room was a girl who lay naked and bound on a table with her eyes tightly closed. A man dressed in a black kaftan stood next to the table; his camouflaged pants sat around his ankles and he was in the middle of raping the silent girl on the table. A surge of hatred exploded from within me and after ripping the rapist from his victim I feed from his stems of blood with a renewed sense of hunger. After yet another unsatisfying feed, I hurled my victim with an unexpected strength across the room. He thudded heavily against the carved rock wall before lying limp in a heap upon his own contorted body. Turning to face the sobbing girl, who remained still on the table, I realized with a sobering sense of angst that she now gazed upon me with a petrified stare – it was as though she was more frightened of me than she had been of her rapist.

 _"Jacob..."_ a heavenly voice sang from one of the cages behind me. I turned around to where the voice came from and was blinded by an intense white light.

 _"Jacob..."_ the voice said again from deep within the brilliant light. Raising my hand over my eyes in a hope to shield them from the glare, I failed to see the person who spoke so divinely but instead could only see the red pulsating veins of the female slaves who also occupied the same prison cell; their blood seemed to have lost their appeal next to this mysterious white glow. The radiating light then dipped slightly, allowing me to make out a silhouette of a petite person. Without a second thought I walked up to the cage slowly and pulled on the cage's door, ripping it off its hinges. The white light dwindled down further still and that's when the unmistakable topaz-blue iris's beamed out of the silhouette's darkness, through the white light and into my own eyes.

But I couldn't believe what I was seeing; I had remembered as though it was only yesterday every single detail and every fiber of these stunningly beautiful eyes of which I had spent so much, yet never enough time adoring. My heart pounded excitedly against my ribs for what felt like the first time since I'd left the manor in my disheveled state; and I was certain, without a grain of doubt, that these eyes belonged to Jill.


	35. Chapter 35 - THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

**CHAPTER 36 - THROUGH THE CAVE OF BATS**

* * *

"Come on Jacob, let's head back." Samara walked hurriedly to me and grasped my hand, she then lead the way out of the cabin and into the thick early morning forest air.

Darting my eyes around I couldn't help but blink uncomfortably; my eyes felt as though a thin sheet had been wrapped around them that filtered out all color. It was definitely nighttime, but I could see everything as if it was day, but only in a monochrome sort of way. Vigorously I began rubbing my eyes in an attempt to make the color come back.

"What, what the hell's wrong with my eyes!" I said in a semi-panic.

Samara grabbed my hands and pinned them beside my hips.

"Shhh...Just close your eyes..." she said reassuringly. "Close your eyes, relax your eye lids, then open them slowly."

A tense moment later I slowly opened my eyes and took a look lazy look around where we stood; the cabin, which stood next to us on an elevated clearing, out-looked above the forest's canopy. My eyes started to feel uncomfortable again as I tried to gaze out beyond the forest that seemed to stretch out vast distances in all directions like a thick blanket. The horizon appeared a reddish, devilish color and I figured sunrise couldn't be far away.

"This place really is in the middle of nowhere!" I mentioned as I focused my sight back to Samara and this seemed to help make the aching sensation disappear from my iris's.

"It's my little getaway..." Samara replied as she once again grabbed my hand and proceeded to pull me down the hill and into the forest. "Keep hold of my hand, its easy to get lost in here."

Samara pulled my hand with an immense strength and we picked up a rapid pace along a path she clearly had taken numerous times before; weaving in and out between the trees I could feel my hair, all the way to the follicles, shifting position gently: it was as though a billion tiny fingers were massaging my head in unison. My brain struggled to keep up with the ever changing directions that Samara was doing to avoid hitting tree trunks and branches and by the time we had made it to the sandy shoreline of a beach, I felt utterly exhausted.

"Shit Samara! - Could you - not have - run any - faster?" I said indignantly as I bent over myself, rested my hands on my knees and tried to catch my breath.

"There's no need for that Jacob." Samara fired back.

"Well - you - could - have - at least - warned - me that you were..." I began hotly between gasping breaths.

"Not that Jacob...!" Samara interrupted. "You don't need oxygen, so stop trying to catch your breath... You're so funny."

"What - are - you saying?" I gasped.

"Literally just stop! Stop breathing," Samara bellowed out in a winsome laughter, "...then you'll see what I'm saying to you."

Gasping once more, I then stood up, held my breath in for a moment then as I exhaled, Samara held my palm up to my face, an inch from my mouth.

"Did you feel your breath on your hand?" She asked cheekily.

"Um, no." I replied confusedly.

"And do you still feel out of breath?" Samara questioned as she let go of my wrist.

"Err, no."

"See now?"

"Yes, but it's such a strange feeling. My body still feels like it needs to breath."

"It's not your body Jacob, it's your brain..., it's having to unlearn reflexes that have kept you alive all these years." Samara said informatively before turning her back to me and digging her toes into the damp sand. "We should continue our way back," Samara glanced back towards the reddening horizon, "... I wanted to show you something else. You'll love it!"

"Alright..., I'm going to guess it's another one of your parlor tricks?" I joked lightly still marveling at my lack of need to breath by attempting to blow onto my hand (nothing was coming out of my mouth).

"Ready? Try to keep up and look down at the sand." She replied as she wiggled her foot further into the sand as if she was looking for solid ground.

She then crouched slightly and with her free foot placed in front, sprung forward rapidly. Kicking up a trail of sand behind her, she started to disappear down the shoreline. The cloud of sand headed quickly towards my face, but then it appeared to slow down enough for me to side step it. Sprinting off after Samara, who was now trailing ahead, I struggled to keep up with her pace as the sand under my feet felt as though it was draining the power from my steps. I then remembered what Samara had said and I glanced down at the path Samara had just taken and saw nothing; there were no foot tracks and the sand appeared completely unsettled. Peering back up at Samara, who was now further ahead then before, I focused on her feet and realized that she was actually levitating above the ground by an inch - her running feet were just for effect.

A long second later, I had caught up to Samara who now stood upon a rock under beside a cliff face with a large grin on her face.

"You - you were - flying" I gasped short of breath once more.

"Jacob, your breathing!" she replied curtly.

"Oh right, sorry" I said quickly as I flashed Samara a smile. "So you can fly? That's incredible!"

"Well, not really..." Samara said scrapping her feet on the rocks in an effort to wipe the sand from between her toes. "I can levitate, but it takes great concentration and energy..."

"Can you show me how?" I asked as I gazed up the cliff face beyond Samara's elevated position on the rock.

"Jacob, in time, but it consumes so much energy, it would mean you have to feed more..." she trailed off. "...small steps first, then we'll see. "Samara glanced down at her feet. "But here, look."

Samara, still peering down at her feet, closed her eyes and momentarily paused. Her feet started to separate slowly from the surface of the rock and her body floated upwards by an inch. She then opened her eyes, stared at me and and smiled as her body returned back down onto the rock.

"By the way, do you recognize where we are?" She asked benevolently.

After surveying the monochromatic landscape around me, I recognized the cliff's protruding edge and how the top of it peeled backwards towards a large structure that was stationed on the top.

"We're..., we're home!" I said gleefully with a sense of relief and as I started eagerly towards the path at the base of the cliff that lead up to the manor, Samara placed her hand on my shoulder and whipped me around.

"Not that way..., this way..." She said darting her eyes further down the cliff face before releasing her grip on my shoulder and walking off between the rocks. "Remember the cave?"

"Yeah, the glow worm cave?"

"Yes... that's it."

A short while later, we entered the glow worm cave and although we were quiet, the worms appeared to be glowing faintly in a darkened grey color against an almost white cave ceiling - it was as though we stood under an inverted starry night sky.

"This is amazing" I hushed into Samara's ear.

"Boo!" Samara chirped loudly and the entire cave lit up vibrantly with the most beautiful blue I'd ever seen; the cave walls contrasted against the rock floor which appeared to be covered in a shiny emerald green; lights from the worms pulsated energetically giving the effect that we were in some sort of natural psychedelic tunnel. Samara glanced back at me and smiled widely, a startling wave of contentment tingled through my body.

"So where are we going exactly?"

"I found a hidden cavity in the basement of the manor some years ago... like decades ago... and it lead to a large room that looked like it had been carved out by water. I was bored one day so I dove into the water and swam until I came out through this cave... and that's where we are heading... there is someone I'd like you to meet, but before you say anything, I have to ask you something else..."

"Go on..." I said cautiously.

"Do you mind getting a bit wet?" She asked stopping abruptly which caused me to casually bump into the back of her.

"Well..., because..." she began slowly before hotly saying "because of this!"

Samara had grabbed my hand again (of course I didn't mind) and hauled me over to a small chamber-opening in the cave where its ground had given way to a perceptively deep pool of water.

"Wha, what are you doing?" I stammered nervously at Samara who remained holding my hand firmly.

"This..." She replied quickly and tugged my hand vigorously leading my objecting legs to the water's edge. "You can swim right?"

"Yeah but..." I protested staring into the water's reflected edge. "The water... it looks like blood...Why does it look like blood...?"

"Look up Jacob..."

Suspicious that Samara was going to pull me into the water, I hesitantly gazed up, and it wasn't until I realized that the chamber's ceiling, which was no longer brightly lit but was instead lined with thousands of bats (all of who had tiny red pulsating orbs within them), that the red in the water was just the reflection of the hanging creatures above.

"Those orbs..." I started but then felt Samara's strong grip pull me into the water. "Arghhh..."

Samara then proceeded to hold me under the water and at first I thrashed violently as I shot stares of desperation at her through the gathering bubbles; struggling to fight against my natural instincts to surface for air, I gave up and relaxed under Samara's superior strength. She then let go of me, gave me the thumbs up, waved her hand as if to say "follow me" and swam off. Rushing to ensure I didn't lose sight of her, I swam in her bubbly wake, through winding tunnels and narrowing cavities until after a minute or so later, we surfaced under rows of sodden wooden planks.

The lines of light that shone through the gaps in the wood a meter above our heads, illuminated the rippling water around us.

"You okay?" Samara asked as she glanced back at me before wading over a few meters towards the rock wall.

"Yeah..., thanks for drowning me." I grumbled. "Where are we?"

Samara didn't reply, instead she rose out of the water and knocked on the under side of the planks.

Observing the unfamiliar dampened surroundings around me, the faint tapping of a nervous heartbeat along with hurried scuffling feet alerted me that someone, possibly skittish was beyond the wooden barrier.

"Hurry up Tom! Let us in." Samara yelled uncharitably.

"Is - is - he safe?" The nervous voice quivered from beyond the wood.

"Yes!" Samara perked again, but this time she turned to me and winked playfully. "...he's safe... now let us in please!"

"Oh - yes, okay just a minute..." The man replied unconvincingly and I could swear I recognized his voice from somewhere.

A square segment of the wood lifted, revealing itself to be a trap door which then folded up and back on its self letting in a thick beam of dusty light. The person who had just lifted the trap door scurried off again.

Samara dove under the water, then as though she was a penguin, she shot out of the water and up through the trap door.

"Jacob, here grab my hand." she said a second later and her arm stretched out through the trap door.

After wading the few meters to the door I grasped Samara's hand and she heaved me up easily through the opening as though I weighed no more than a feather.

"Thanks" I said as I peskily wiped the wet hair from out of my eyes. "Whoa! What is this place?" I exclaimed glancing around the crypt-like chamber which was completely window and door-less.

"This, my dear friend, is our lair, our hidden hideaway, our haunt." Samara said confidently as she strode across the stone floor in her dripping cloak which left a slick wet trail behind her. "I believe it used to be an old prison to keep slaves in...but we've turned it into our sanctuary."

My hair annoyingly fell in front of my eyes again and Samara noticed and if taking another opportunity to show off said excitedly, "Sorry Jacob for getting you wet, but I'll show you how to get rid of it." She then turned slowly on the spot once, twice, then sped up to an extraordinary speed expelling the water from her clothes and hair. "There, that's how you dry yourself" she said after she'd abruptly stopped, now completely dry. "You try".

"Okay, here goes..." I replied twisted my body around and around until the room blurred.

"That should be enough..." Samara said and after I'd stopped my spin instantly, I touched my hair to find, to my content and slight disbelief, that it was dry.

A nervously rapid breathing sounded from behind a very large blackboard that Samara was heading towards; a high pitched varying buzz emitted from a large black clad booth that stood to the left of the chalked scribbled black board. The carved out room was otherwise bare.

"Ready for your surprise Jacob...?" Samara cheekily asked before addressing the person behind the board "...Tom, come out already! ...Jacob is not going to harm you!"

"I - I guess so..." The voice quivered.

A man, roughly six feet tall and dressed in an retro brown blazer cautiously stepped out from behind the blackboard and his square glasses were unmistakably recognizable.

"Mr, err, Mr Henry?" I exclaimed completely shocked. "Wha-what are you doing here?" Mr Henry appeared feeble and frightened at the sight of me as he walked quickly around the board and stood closely, almost behind Samara as though he was using her as a shield.

"I am a, um, a kind of, err researcher..." He started shakily. "... I, um, research certain history, you may call it um, paranormal history, folklore, legends and myths. Mainly I search for their origins..., to find, err, their hidden truths..."

"But you were my science teacher..." I said narrowing my eyes on him. "So what exactly were you researching at the school?"

My question seemed to have flustered Tom into hiding further behind Samara.  
"Well, I, um... was researching a disturbance in the town... mainly" Tom appeared to have remembered something as he ducked past the back of Samara and into the black booth to return a second later with an over-sized book in his hands.

"The book! You remember this book Jacob?" Tom, who had now seemed to have gained a bit of courage, held the book against his chest with the front cover facing outwards. "You see, it's ancient words tell us that it is able to detect when one of your kind are nearby... and it started reacting around you, or Jill... but it was acting intermittent and strangely and I did not know why... it normally is very easy to read when it detects..."

"My God Tom, what's all this on the board?" Samara injected dryly.

"Oh, I um, thought it would be best if we, err, went through what we know thus far with Jacob."

"Oh...," Samara began thoughtfully. "I suppose... and where is our newest addition?"

"Yes, well as it's only five in the morning, I'd say that she is still asleep upstairs." Tom replied weakly, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose.

I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Mr Henry as he was clearly intimidated by Samara.

"Please Jacob, have a seat." Tom said less nervous then before and the way he spoke immediately reminded me of the day when I questioned him in class and was dismissed with " _please have a seat_ ".

"I would but..." I started peering around the room for a chair, although I didn't feel a particular need to sit.

"Here!" Samara yelled from shadowy corner on the other side of the room before flinging an old wooded chair towards me at speed. Doubting my ability to catch the chair, just as I'd always struggled to catch a ball during Baseball or Dodge Ball, I held out my arms and cast my head to the side (readying myself to be hit in the face); but somehow I caught the chair seamlessly as though my arms knew instinctively what to do, then I sat down.

This reminds me of high school I thought humorously as Samara hurried over to me and sat close by.

"Come on Tom!" Samara began with a whine. "You know he's already read what you've written on the board!"

But Samara was wrong, I hadn't read the words written in caulk, and as I glanced up at the board, it suddenly dawned on me that in that very short gaze up, I had near-instantaneously read the words.

"Yes, well true... Well then, let me explain each point..." Tom's voice suddenly sounded as though he was a record slowing to a near stop and in that moment, I glanced at Samara who rolled her eyes at me as though to say, "I know, he's so slow!"

"Humans will randomly appear to move and talk slowly," Samara whispered softly. "and you will climatise with this as you get more accustomed to your new, err, self."

Closing my eyelids completely blacked out the room and I was able to take a moment to myself, to relax and recoup, after all, my life had just been thrown completely upside down, again.

Tom's voice sped up to normal speed again and I opened my eyes thinking that he'd probably just seen me blink even though I'd had them shut for what seemed to me like a minute.

"Yes, okay, hmm, a quick background then to give you some context..." Tom fidgeted with his glasses. "...So in the time of Noah, some three or four thousand years ago, there was a nocturnal tribe that were known by the name of Valac. This tribe was only a myth of course and folklore at the time stipulated that they lived in the desert caves somewhere between Sudan and Egypt, or the Kingdom of Kush and Persia, as they were known back then by. Once a year, on a seemingly random date, they would kidnap people, mainly children, from nearby settlements. It was a popular story to scare children so that they would come home before dark." Tom lowered his glasses to the tip of his nose, tilted his head down and stared at me as if he was trying to read my thoughts. "However, some years later there was a Kush army that had camped outside a Persian military settlement behind a ridge in preparation for an early morning raid. But the next day the platoon was found dead - their bodies were dead in their tents, completely drained of blood. It was as though an animal had silently attacked them all while they slept. One of the Persian's realized a few of their enemies bed's were missing their corpses... anyway," Tom sighed, walked into the black clad booth, wheeled out an office type of chair and sat down next to the blackboard. "The Valac spread the next night to the Persian military camp and wiped them out; luckily a handful of people who had left the day their dead enemies were discovered, were able to warn the nearby villages."

"Okay, so what does this all mean?" I queried as patiently as possible.

"Sorry Jacob, I'll try to speed up..., I just feel like I don't want to err, okay so the nearby towns inevitably were abandoned or killed and by the time the word got to the Pharaoh in the capital it was too late. His people were paranoid and the murder rate increased substantially as suspicions rapidly got out of control about this mythical Valac tribe and who they were and what they looked like. Then the Pharaoh himself stopped coming out to greet his Kingdom and it was assumed he'd locked himself away for protection. But one night, he called upon his kingdom to meet in hope to resolve the turmoil that was besetting his people and once he was satisfied that he had a large crowd before him, he and his henchman then proceeded to feed on the crowd in a unprovoked frenzy - only the onlookers from afar escaped."

"Sorry, Mr err, Tom, I still don't..."

"Yes, well after that mass murder the situation only spread and got worse with loved ones disappearing and reappearing but as deranged murderers, that was until the great biblical flood."

"As in the flood in the Bible?" I asked rather intrigued.

"Yes that's correct, although to be fair, almost all the religious books mention this flood." Tom paused briefly, wiped his forehead and held the old book against his chest. "According to this book the flood was referred to as 'The Black Mass'. Only those 'free of sin' saw this black substance as water, but the sinful saw it as a kind of black death for as soon as the blackness touched them, they were bound and consumed, returned to the earth as dust. But of course even this God-sent cleansing wasn't perfect and a few managed to escape. They remained hidden and learnt to control their thirst for blood and death."

"And...?"

"That's your origin Jacob, you're a Valac.

"A Valac..." I repeated softly.

"Welcome!" Samara piped cheerfully. "See Tom! You got through the History and Jacob didn't kill you!"

"Yes, well if you could also be patient enough for me to go through the list on the board?" Tom said as he stood up, placed the book on the chair and pointed up at the lines on the board. "This is just a quick list so that you won't kill yourself Jacob...

Number one: The things that will kill you:  
The Sun  
"The Sun will burn your skin, but as soon as gets through that protective layer, you will self-combust.

Decapitation  
"Self explanatory"

Fire  
"Again, if the fire pierces through, you die."

Draining someone dry  
"Often someone turned without knowledge will, one, not be able to control their thirst, and two, they will drink a corpse dry, killing themselves. Which by the way, somehow you managed not to do on your killing spree...

"But what about the pig that Samara killed?" I questioned.

"Ah, yes, well animal blood appears to be different. It seems the closer the DNA is to that of human, the more likely you would be to die."

"If you can stand the taste of animal blood..." Samara injected sharply.

"And finally, Holy Water, Crosses, garlic and wooded stakes have no effect on your kind. They were all methods made up in the middle ages during another brief surge of hysteria that didn't actually eventuate."

A series of short sharp beeps sounded from within the black clad room.

"Shit!" Tom said abruptly. "Not another one!"

"So where's it this time?" Samara asked concernedly standing up and walking over to Tom.

"Atlanta." Tom replied.

"Atlanta, Georgia?" I asked interrupting.

"Yes." Tom said shortly and he then reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out two pairs of glasses. "Here put these on." He said tossing a pair of the glasses to me.

Samara and I put the dark sunglasses on, which only seemed to cut a little color out from my vision, and walked behind Mr Henry and entered the large booth.

A large computer desk which held two laptops and other electronic equipment took up most of the room. The laptop screens and flashing lights appeared harsh and overly bright. I could imagine that without the glasses it would be too much to bear.

"So what's all this?" I asked.

"Jacob, there's not much time to explain..." Tom said worryingly. "There's been another murder in Atlanta, and I fear the killer is not, err, human..."

"Are you quite sure Tom?" Samara asked discerningly.

"Positive, here look at the numbers, look at the locations..."

"Okay..., oh, no, ...Jackson Valley was hit..."

"Um, what's going on?" I asked again.

"Jacob, our kind..., there are bad ones..." Samara replied slightly angst. "...and we track them down and well, err, convert them. But this one seems to kill differently; he doesn't seem to feed on his victims... we have to go back to America Jacob, back to your home town."


	36. Chapter 36 - THROUGH THE CAVE OF BATS

**CHAPTER 36 - THROUGH THE CAVE OF BATS**

* * *

"Come on Jacob, let's head back." Samara said as she walked hurriedly towards me, grasping my hand; she then lead the way out of the cabin and into the thick early morning forest air.

Darting my eyes around I couldn't help but blink uncomfortably; my eyes felt as though a thin plastic sheet had been wrapped around them, filtering out all color. It was definitely nighttime, but I could see everything as if it was day, but only in a monochrome sort of way. Vigorously I began rubbing my eyes in a failed attempt to make the color come back.

"What, what the hell's wrong with my eyes!" I said in a semi-panic.

Samara grabbed my hands and pinned them beside my hips.

"Shhh...just close your eyes," she said reassuringly. "Close your eyes, relax your eye lids, then open them slowly."

A tense moment later I slowly opened my eyes and took a lazy look around where we stood; the cabin, which stood next to us on an elevated clearing, out-looked above the forest canopy. My eyes started to feel uncomfortable again as I tried to gaze out beyond the forest that seemed to stretch out vast distances in all directions like a thick blanket. The horizon appeared a reddish, devilish color and I figured sunrise couldn't be far away.

"This place really is in the middle of nowhere." I mentioned as I focused my sight back to Samara and this seemed to help make the aching sensation disappear from my irides.

"It's my little getaway..." Samara said appreciatively as she once again grabbed my hand and proceeded to pull me down the hill and into the darkness of the canopy. "Keep hold of my hand, it's easy to get lost in here."

Samara pulled my hand with an immense strength and we picked up a rapid pace along a path she clearly had taken numerous times before; weaving in and out between the trees I could feel my hair, all the way to the follicles, gently shifting position every time we rounded a trunk and it felt as though a billion tiny fingers were massaging my head in unison. My brain struggled to keep up with the ever-changing direction that Samara was doing to avoid hitting tree trunks and branches and by the time we had made it to the sandy shoreline of a beach, I felt utterly exhausted.

"Shit Samara! - Could you - not have - run any faster?" I said indignantly as I bent over myself, resting my hands on my knees and trying to catch my breath.

"There's no need for that Jacob," Samara fired back.

"Well - you - could - have - at least - warned - me that you were..." I began hotly between gasping breaths.

"Not that Jacob!" Samara interrupted. "You don't need oxygen, so stop trying to catch your breath... You can be funny you know."

"What - are - you saying?" I gasped.

"Literally just stop! Stop breathing," Samara bellowed out in a winsome laughter, "then you'll see what I'm saying to you."

Gasping once more, I then stood up, held my breath in for a moment then as I exhaled, Samara held my palm up to my face, an inch from my mouth.

"Did you feel your breath on your hand?" she asked cheekily.

"Um, no," I replied perplexed.

"And do you still feel out of breath?" Samara questioned as she let go of my wrist.

"Err, no," I replied, blowing on my palm again and feeling nothing.

"See now?" Samara said coolly.

"Yeah, but it's such a strange feeling, I mean my body still feels like it needs to breath," I said as I blew to no avail on my hand once more before shaking it away from my face.

"It's not your body Jacob, it's your brain... It's having to unlearn reflexes that have kept you alive all these years," Samara explained before turning her back to me and digging her toes into the damp sand. "We should continue our way back, the sun it's..." Samara trailed off, her glance fixated towards the reddening horizon for moment before glancing back at me with a widened smile. "I wanted to show you something else. You'll love it!"

"Alright, I'm going to guess it's another one of your parlor tricks?" I joked lightly still marveling at my lack of need to breathe. My chest no longer puffed up when I took in a breath, it remained rigid and hard, inanimate.

"Ready? Try to keep up, but look down at the sand, at me feet," Samara said wiggling her foot further into the sand as if she was looking for a solid footing. She then crouched slightly and with her free foot placed in front, sprung forward rapidly, kicking up a trail of sand behind her. As she started to disappear down the shoreline at a blistering pace, the kicked up cloud of sand headed quickly towards my face, but then it appeared to slow down enough for me to sidestep it. Sprinting off after Samara, who was now trailing ahead, I struggled to keep up with her pace as the sand under my feet felt as though it was draining the power from my steps. I then remembered what Samara had said and I glanced down at the path Samara had just taken and saw nothing; there were no foot tracks and the sand appeared completely unsettled. Peering back up at Samara, who was now further ahead then before, I focused on her feet and realized that she was actually levitating above the ground by an inch - her running feet were just for effect.

A long second later, I had caught up to Samara who now stood upon a rock under a cliff face, sporting a large grin.

"You - you were - flying!" I gasped short of breath once more.

"Jacob, your breathing!" she replied curtly.

"Oh right, sorry," I said quickly as I flashed Samara a smile and ceased my unnecessary breathing. "So you can fly? That's incredible!"

"Well, no not really..." Samara said scrapping her feet on the rocks in an effort to wipe the sand from between her toes. "I can levitate, but it takes concentration and energy..."

"Can you show me how?" I asked as I gazed up the cliff face beyond Samara's elevated position on the rock.

"Jacob, in time, but it consumes energy, energy you don't have, you would have to feed more..." she trailed off sending another worried glance towards the horizon. "Small steps first, then we'll see," Samara continued glancing back down at her feet. "But here, look." Samara, still peering down at her feet, closed her eyes and momentarily paused. Her feet started to separate slowly from the surface of the rock and her body floated upwards by an inch. She then opened her eyes, stared at me and smiled as her body returned back down onto the rock. "By the way, do you recognize where we are?" she asked benevolently.

After surveying the monochromatic landscape around me, I recognized the cliff's protruding edge and how the top of it peeled backwards towards a large structure that was stationed on the top.

"We're...we're home!" I said gleefully with a sense of relief and as I started eagerly towards the path at the base of the cliff that lead up to the manor, Samara placed her hand on my shoulder and whipped me around so that we stood face to face.

"Not that way. This way..." she said darting her eyes further down the cliff face before releasing her grip on my shoulder and walking off between the rocks. "Remember the cave?"

"Yeah, the glow worm cave?"

"Yes...that's it."

A moment later we entered the glow worm cave and although we were quiet, the worms appeared to be glowing faintly in a darkened grey color against an almost white cave ceiling - it was as though we stood under an inverted starry night sky.

"This is amazing!" I hushed into Samara's ear.

"Boo!" Samara chirped loudly and the entire cave lit up vibrantly with the most beautiful blue I'd ever seen; the cave walls contrasted against the rock floor which appeared to be covered in a shiny emerald green; lights from the worms pulsated energetically giving the effect that we were in some sort of natural psychedelic tunnel. Samara glanced back at me and smiled widely, a startling wave of contentment tingled through my body.

"So where are we going exactly?" I asked eagerly.

"I found a hidden cavity in the basement of the manor some years ago...well, like decades ago...and it lead to a large room that looked like it had been carved out by water. I was bored one day so I dove into the water and swam until I came out through this cave...and that's where we are heading! And there is someone I'd like you to meet, but before you say anything, I have to ask you something else..."

"Go on..." I said cautiously.

"Do you mind getting a bit wet?" Samara asked stopping abruptly which caused me to casually bump into the back of her.

"Well...because..." she began slowly before hotly saying, "Because of this!"

Samara had grabbed my hand again (of course I didn't mind) and hauled me over to a small chamber-opening in the cave where it's ground had given way to a perceptively deep pool of water.

"Wha, what are you doing?" I stammered nervously at Samara who remained holding my hand firmly.

"This...!" she replied quickly and tugged my hand vigorously leading my objecting legs to the water's edge. "You can swim right?"

"Yeah but...!" I protested staring into the water's reflected edge. "The water...it looks like blood! Why does it look like blood Samara...?"

"Look up Jacob..."

Suspicious that Samara was going to pull me into the water, I hesitantly gazed up, and it wasn't until I realized that the chamber's ceiling, which was no longer brightly lit but was instead lined with thousands of bats (all of who had tiny red pulsating orbs within them), that the red in the water was just the reflection of the hanging creatures above.

"Those orbs..." I started but then felt Samara's strong grip pull me into the water. "Arghhh..."

Samara then proceeded to hold me under the water and at first I thrashed violently as I shot stares of desperation at her through the gathering bubbles around us; struggling to fight against my natural instincts to surface for air, I gave up and relaxed under Samara's superior strength. She then let go of me, gave me the thumbs up, waved her hand as if to say "follow me" and swam off. Rushing to ensure I didn't lose sight of her, I swam in her bubbly wake, through winding tunnels and narrowing cavities until after a minute or so later, we surfaced under rows of sodden wooden planks. The lines of light that shone through the gaps in the wood a meter above our heads, illuminated the rippling water around us. The water didn't feel cold like I had expected it to, and then I realized that I couldn't feel the water at all yet I was surrounded by it.

"You okay?" Samara asked as she glanced back at me before wading over a few meters towards a rock wall.

"Yeah...thanks for drowning me," I grumbled. "Where are we?"

Samara didn't reply, instead she rose out of the water and knocked on the under side of the planks. Observing the unfamiliar damp surroundings around me, the faint tapping of a nervous heartbeat along with hurried scuffling feet alerted me that someone was beyond the wooden barrier above our heads.

"Hurry up Tom! Let us in!" Samara yelled uncharitably.

"Is - is - he safe?" a nervous voice quivered from beyond the wood.

"Yes!" Samara perked again, but this time she turned to me and winked playfully. "He's safe... now let us in please before I break..."

"Oh - yes, okay just a minute..." the man replied unconvincingly and I could swear I recognized his voice from somewhere.

A square segment of the wood lifted, revealing itself to be a trap door which then folded up and back on itself letting in a thick beam of dusty light. The person who had just lifted the trap door scurried off. Samara dove under the water, then as though she was a penguin, she shot out of the water and up through the trap door.

"Jacob, here grab my hand," she said a second later and her arm stretched out through the trap door.

After wading the few meters to the door I grasped Samara's hand and she heaved me up easily through the opening as though I weighed no more than a feather.

"Thanks," I said as I peskily wiped the wet hair from out of my eyes. "Whoa! What is this place?" I exclaimed glancing around the crypt-like chamber which was completely window and door-less.

"This, my dear friend, is our lair, our hidden hideaway, our haunt if you like," Samara said confidently as she strode across the stone floor in her dripping-wet cloak which left a slick trail behind her. "I believe it used to be an old prison to keep slaves in...but we've turned it into our sanctuary."

My hair annoyingly fell in front of my eyes again and Samara seemed to notice; as if taking another opportunity to show off Samara said excitedly, "Sorry Jacob for getting you wet, but I'll show you how to get rid of it, it's a good skill that will come in handy." She then turned slowly on the spot once, twice, then sped up to an extraordinary speed expelling the water from her clothes and hair. "There, that's how you dry yourself!" she said after she'd abruptly stopped, now completely spun-dry. "You try!"

"Okay, here goes..." I replied twisted my body around and around until the room blurred. I kept turning and turning but the room barely appeared to move.

"That should be enough," Samara said and after I'd stopped my spin, I touched my hair to find, to my content and slight disbelief, that it was dry. But I didn't understand; I'd seen Samara spin so fast, yet I felt as though I couldn't spin very quickly at all. I shook the confusing thought from my mind.

A nervous rapid breathing sounded from behind a very large blackboard that Samara was heading towards; a high pitched varying buzz emitted from a large black clad booth that stood to the left of the chalked scribbled blackboard. Apart from the old scattered chair, the carved-out room was otherwise bare.

"Ready for your surprise Jacob...?" Samara cheekily asked before addressing the person behind the board. "Tom, come out already! Jacob is not going to harm you!"

"I - I guess so..." The voice quivered weakly. A man, roughly six feet tall and dressed in a retro brown blazer cautiously stepped out from behind the blackboard and his square glasses were unmistakably recognizable.

"Mr, err, Mr Henry?" I exclaimed completely shocked. "Wha-what are you doing here?" Mr Henry appeared feeble and frightened at the sight of me as he walked quickly around the board and stood closely, almost behind Samara as though he was using her as a shield.

"I am a, um, a kind of, err researcher..." he started shakily. "...I, um, research certain history, you may call it um, paranormal history, folklore, legends and myths. I search for their hidden truths..."

"But you were my science teacher!" I said narrowing my eyes on him. "So what exactly were you researching at the school?"

My question seemed to have flustered Tom into hiding further behind Samara.

"Well, I, um...was researching a disturbance in the town...mainly." Tom appeared to have remembered something as he ducked past behind Samara and into the black booth to return a second later with an over-sized book in his hands.

"The book! You remember this book Jacob?" Tom, who had now seemed to have gained a bit of courage, held the book against his chest with the front cover facing outwards, it's cover was instantly recognizable; the red emblem on the front appeared to swirl within itself. "You see, it's ancient words tell us that it is able to detect when one of your kind are nearby...and it started reacting around you, or Jill...but it was acting intermittent and strangely and I did not know why...it normally is very easy to read when it detects..."

"My god Tom, what's all this on the board?" Samara injected dryly.

"Oh, I um, thought it would be best if we, err, went through what we know thus far with Jacob, I mean this is a first for us."

"Oh," Samara began thoughtfully. "I suppose...and where is our newest addition?"

"Yes, well as it's only five in the morning, I'd say that she is sleeping upstairs," Tom replied weakly, pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Mr Henry as he was clearly intimidated by Samara.

"Please Jacob, have a seat," Tom said less monotonously and the way he spoke immediately reminded me of the day when I questioned him in class about the book and was dismissed with..." _please have a seat._ "

Old habits I guess.

"I would but..." I started peering around the room for a nearby chair, although I didn't feel a particular need to sit.

"Here!" Samara yelled from shadowy corner on the other side of the room before flinging an old wooden chair towards me at speed. Doubting my ability to catch the chair, just as I'd always struggled to catch a ball during Baseball or Dodge Ball, I held out my arms and cast my head to the side (readying myself to be hit in the face), but somehow I caught the chair seamlessly as though my arms knew instinctively what to do. I then sat down noticing how lightweight and effortless my posture was. I'd always hunched under the weight of gravity, but now it felt as though gravity had little effect. This reminds me of high school I thought humorously as Samara hurried over to me and sat close by.

"Come on Tom!" Samara began with a whine. "You know he's already read what you've written on the board!"

But Samara was wrong, I hadn't read the words written in caulk, and as I glanced up at the board, it suddenly dawned on me that in that very short gaze up, I had near-instantaneously read the words.

"Yes, well true... Well then, let me explain each point..." Tom's voice suddenly sounded as though he was a record slowing to a near stop and in that moment, I glanced at Samara who rolled her eyes at me as though to say, "I know, he's so slow!"

"Your perception of the world will appear to slow down and in the beginning you won't be able to control it," Samara whispered softly. "But you will eventually climatize with this as you get more accustomed to your new, err, self."

Closing my eyelids and completely blacking out the room, I was able to take a moment to myself, to relax and recoup, after all, my life had just been thrown completely upside down, again. Tom's voice sped up to normal speed again and I opened my eyes thinking that he'd probably just seen me blink even though I'd had them shut for what seemed to me like a minute.

"Yes, okay, hmm, a quick background then to give you some context..." Tom fidgeted with his glasses. "So in the time of well, the first testament, there was a nocturnal tribe that were known by the name of Valac. This tribe was only a myth of course and folklore at the time stipulated that they lived in the desert caves somewhere between Sudan and Egypt, or the Kingdom of Kush and Persia, as they were known back then. Once a year, on a seemingly random date, a mass of people would disappear, mainly children, from the settlements that bordered the desert. It was a popular story to scare children so that they would come home before dark." Tom lowered his glasses to the tip of his nose, tilted his head down and stared at me as if he was trying to read my thoughts. "However, some years later there was a Kush army that had camped outside a Persian military settlement behind a ridge in preparation for an early morning raid. But the next day the platoon was found dead - their bodies were dead in their tents, completely drained of blood. It was rumored that an animal had silently attacked them all while they slept. One of the Persian's realized a few of their enemies bed's were missing their corpses...anyway," Tom sighed, walked into the black clad booth, wheeled out an office chair and sat down next to the blackboard. "The Valac spread the next night to the Persian military camp and wiped them out; luckily a handful of people who had left the day their dead enemies were discovered were able to warn the nearby villages."

"Okay, so what does this all mean? What does it have to do with me?" I queried as patiently as possible.

"Sorry Jacob, I'll try to speed up...I just feel like I don't want to err, okay so the nearby towns inevitably were abandoned or killed and by the time the word got to the Pharaoh in the capital it was too late. His people were paranoid and the murder rate increased substantially as suspicions rapidly got out of control about this mythical Valac tribe and who they were and what they looked like. Then the Pharaoh himself stopped coming out to greet his Kingdom as he did weekly and it was assumed he'd locked himself away, for protection. But one night, he called upon his kingdom to meet in hope to resolve the turmoil that was besetting his people and once he was satisfied that he had a large crowd before him, he and his henchman then proceeded to feed on the crowd in a unprovoked frenzy - only the onlookers from afar escaped."

"Sorry, Mr err, Tom, I still don't..."

"Yes, well after that mass murder the situation only spread and got worse with loved ones disappearing and reappearing but as deranged murderers, that was until the great biblical flood."

"As in the flood in the Bible?" I asked rather intrigued.

"Yes that's correct, although to be fair, almost all the religious books mention this flood," Tom paused briefly, wiped his forehead and held the old book against his chest. "According to this book the flood was referred to as 'The Black Mass'. Only those 'free of sin' saw this black substance as water, but the sinful saw it as a kind of black death for as soon as the blackness touched them, they were bound and consumed, returned to the earth as dust. But of course even this god-sent cleansing wasn't perfect and a few managed to escape. They remained hidden and learnt to control their thirst for blood and death."

"And...?"

"That's your origin Jacob, you're a Valac.

"A Valac?" I repeated softly. "I'm a deranged murderer?"

"Welcome to the family!" Samara piped cheerfully. "See Tom! You got through the History and Jacob didn't kill you!"

"Yes, well if you could also be patient enough for me to go through the list on the board?" Tom said as he stood up, placed the book on the chair and pointed up at the lines on the board with his index finger. "This is just a quick list so that you won't kill yourself Jacob..."

 _Number one of the things that will kill you: The Sun_  
"The Sun will burn your skin, but as soon as it gets through that protective layer, you will self-combust.

 _Number two: Decapitation_  
"Self explanatory"

 _Number three: Fire_  
"Again, if the fire pierces through, you die."

 _Number four: Draining someone dry_  
"Often someone turned without knowledge will, one, not be able to control their thirst, and two, they will drink a corpse dry, killing themselves. Which by the way, somehow you managed not to do on your killing spree...impressive.

"But what about the pig that Samara killed?" I questioned.

"Ah, yes, well animal blood appears to be a little different. It seems the closer the DNA is to that of human, the more likely you would be to die."

"If you can stand the taste of animal blood..." Samara injected sharply.

"And finally, Holy Water, Crosses, garlic and wooded stakes have no effect on your kind. They were all methods made up in the middle ages during another brief surge of hysteria that didn't actually eventuate."

A series of short sharp beeps sounded from within the black-clad room.

"Shit!" Tom said abruptly. "Another one!"

"So where's it this time?" Samara asked concernedly standing up and walking over to Tom.

"Atlanta," Tom replied.

"Atlanta, Georgia?" I asked interrupting.

"Yes," Tom said shortly and he then reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out two pairs of sunglasses.

"Here put these on," he said tossing a pair of glasses to me and a pair to Samara. I put the dark sunglasses on, which only seemed to cut a little color out from my vision, and walked behind Mr Henry and entered the large booth.

A large computer desk which held two laptops and other electronic equipment took up most of the room. The laptop screens' and flashing lights appeared harsh and overly bright; I could imagine that without the shades on it would be too much to bear.

"So what's all this?" I asked.

"Jacob, there's not much time to explain..." Tom said worryingly. "There's been another murder in Atlanta, and I fear the mass murderer is not, err, human..."

"Are you quite sure Tom?" Samara asked discerningly.

"Positive, here look at the numbers, look at the locations..."

"Oh...shit! Jackson Valley was hit..."

"Um, what's going on?" I asked again.

"Jacob, our kind... as you probably have figured out, there are bad ones..." Samara replied slightly angst. "Jacob, after what happened to my family...I swore I would track them down and well, err, convert them. But this one seems to kill differently; he doesn't seem to feed on his victims... We have to go back to America Jacob, back to your home town."


	37. Chapter 37 - THE END

If you have just skipped to the end, then shame on you! The last chapters are the best!

THE END OF PART 1 HAS ARRIVED - THANKS FOR READING

Editing has now started on this book

Chapter 1 done

Chapter 2 done

Chapter 3 done

Chapter 4 done

Chapter 5 done

Chapter 6 done

Chapter 7 done

Chapter 8 done

Chapter 9 done

Chapter 10 done

Chapter 11 done

Chapter 12 done

Chapter 13 done

Chapter 14 done

Chapter 15 done

Chapter 16 done

Chapter 17 done

Chapter 18 done

Chapter 19 done

Chapter 20 done

Chapter 21 done

Chapter 22 done

Chapter 23 done (that one was a biggie)

Chapter 24 done

Chapter 25 done

Chapter 26 done

Chapter 27 done

Chapter 28 done

Chapter 29 done

Chapter 30 done

Chapter 31 done

Chapter 32 done

Chapter 33 done

Chapter 34 done

Chapter 35 done

Chapter 36 done

2nd stage editing by third party started 29/6

Book being ported to Wattpad

THE NEW BOOK WILL BE STARTED AFTER EDITING HAS BEEN FINISHED ON THIS BOOK


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